


amami alfredo

by iwritetopassthetime



Category: Narcos (TV)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Canon-Typical Violence, Cunnilingus, F/M, Javi is a simp, Oral Sex, Shameless Smut, Soft Javier Peña, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:22:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29754702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwritetopassthetime/pseuds/iwritetopassthetime
Summary: Y/N is an opera singer who has a connection to a man who can possibly lead our favourite DEA team to Pablo Escobar.
Relationships: Javier Peña/Reader, Pedro Pascal/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NB! Dialogue in cursive is in Spanish (simply because my Spanish isn't as good as my French and I don't want to insult the entire Hispanophone world)

**to read the Tumblr version >> [click here](https://iwritetopassthetime.tumblr.com/post/641216641309507584/amami-alfredo)**

* * *

_As it turned out, even some of Escobar’s people weren’t complete cultural invalids and had acquired a taste for the finer things in life. Wether that meant buying classical paintings to fill their drug-financed mansions or rubbing shoulders with big names in the music and film industry, both in Colombia and in the US. That, however, didn’t change what they were, it only proved that the overused saying about the wolf in sheep’s clothing was to the fucking point ‘cause after busting one of said mansions, Peña and I discovered that one of those bastards had been snorting coke off of an original Monet. Connie was feral when she heard about it._

_Now that we had them on the run it was much harder for them to get their fill of nice things and that made them more prone to making stupid mistakes just to make themselves and their lives feel fancier. And when you have Escobar’s friends crawling out of their hole just to go watch a fucking concerto, well… if you’ve been rabbit hunting you’ll know what I’m talking about. It certainly made getting closer to catching the bastard a little bit easier._

* * *

Agent Peña was just lighting up his sixth cigarette of the day when Steve walked in their shared working space, calling his name.

‘Get your ass up, Ambassador wants to see us in his office,’ Murphy said while flipping through the folders on his desk and finding the correct one that contained the files showing their recent progress. 

Peña let out a low grunt and stubbed his cigarette in the already filled ashtray and left it aside to finish later. He followed Murphy out of the room and down the hall. ‘What’s this one gonna be about?’

‘I dunno, man. Could be just to go over recent developments.’

‘Would’ve been nice if there were any,’ Peña huffed and Steve chuckled humourlessly.

‘Let me do the talking, you know I’m good with bulshitting my way out of these meetings.’

Upon entering the Ambassador’s office, Javier and Steve were surprised to see none other than César fucking Gaviria sitting opposite Crosby and, of course, Messina. She was standing on the Ambassador’s right with her arms crossed. She had a scowl on her face and her overall demeanour was tense. There was another person sat on the other side of the Colombian president but they were mostly obscured, from the two agents’ position. 

‘President Gaviria.’ Murphy walked ahead, nodding in the man’s direction. Gaviria returned the nod with a curt smile.

‘Agent Murphy, Agent Peña,’ Crosby spoke, ‘sit down.’

When the took the two other available chairs in front of the Ambassador’s desk, the two agents had a clear view of the person sat on the president’s left. A woman. Dressed in nice clothes and smelling of something nice and expensive. An attaché maybe, Javier thought while giving the woman a discreet once over. She looked back at him, the corner of her mouth twitching in something resembling a half-smile. Her eyes were the most striking feature in her entire face in Peña’s opinion. There was something really nice about her eyes. 

Javier was brought back to reality by the Messina’s cough which prompted the agent to hastily take his seat between Gaviria and Steve. He covered his slight embarrassment of being caught ogling the pretty woman by assuming a stoic expression, giving himself an air of nonchalance. 

Steve was about to ask something along the lines of what the hell was this meeting for and why the hell was the Colombian president there, but Crosby was way ahead of him.

‘I’ve called you two in because president Gaviria has some interesting information to share with you two that could help in the Escobar case.’

Gaviria smiled politely, smoothing down his necktie. ‘Not so much what _I_ have to share in this case.’

‘I’m sorry to be rude, señor el presidente’ Steve began, ‘but we’ve been on Escobar’s ass for what feels like forever now. Every lead we have has come from sources in close proximity to the man. What kind of information could you possibly have that would help us?’

The mystery woman opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Ambassador Crosby, ‘Are you familiar with Diego Rivera?’

_Diego Rivera was one of those guys who’d sell you his mother if he knew he’d get a good deal out of it. He was good pals with some guys in the States, mostly gangsters. The US government ignored him for a long time because he prominently worked with them to catch commies around South America. Che Guevara being one of them. He wasn’t anti-communist himself, no — but he was pro-money which worked in his favour for the most part. We started catching whiffs of him in Escobar’s business when his name started to appear in cartel circles. It was obvious that Rivera had found another golden goose to fill his pocket._

‘Former politician, oligarch,’ Javier listed. ‘We have intel that he could possibly be hiding Escobar and his family in one of his estates. We haven’t had a solid lead in that department though.’

‘We know that he likes to keep a high standard of life,’ Steve added. ‘He’s known for running several galleries across Colombia and has one low-key ownership of an exclusive brothel here in Bogota.’ 

‘Well, according to our source,’ the president spoke again, ‘he’s also been frequenting el Teatro Colón and has been, let’s say, persistent in his contacts with the lead soprano there.’

‘And you believe that this soprano is… close to Rivera?’ Javier asked. So the guy wants to fuck a singer, he wanted to add.

‘Not in the way that you think, Agent Peña,’ said the mystery woman and Javier felt a slight chill run down his arms. Her voice was mellow and sweet and a little bit on edge.

‘Agents, may I introduce Miss Y/N Y/L/N, current lead soprano of el Teatro Colón de Bogota and a dear friend of my family’s,’ the president introduced her and Peña thanked whatever higher power there was that he didn’t say what he intended to say. 

‘Miss,’ Murphy nodded in her direction.

‘Y/N came to me with the information,’ the president continued. ‘I’ve assured her that in sharing it with you it would not compromise her safety.’

‘If she’s in contact with a guy who’s close to Escobar, her safety is already compromised,’ Peña said.

‘I was under the impression, Agent Peña, that the American government, was not defeatist in nature.’ Y/N replied calmly.

‘No, miss, but I certainly am a realist.’ Javier retorted despite the slight burn of her words. My, that woman had a fire in her. In the way that she spoke and even sat there, hands folded in her lap, shoulders back and legs crossed at the ankles like the fucking Queen.

She smirked — _fucking_ smirked, ’I can assure you that I do not have any delusions about my predicament. However, I do not wish men like Escobar and Rivera to continue to kill and terrorise in the way they have without consequence.’

President Gaviria took it upon himself to ease the discussion like a true politician. ‘I would like to make a personal request, as the president of the country that yours is a guest of, to make sure that Miss Y/L/N is not harmed in the process. Is that something you think you can do, agents.’

‘With all due respect, we’re not babysitters,’ Murphy replied.

‘You’re not gonna be babysitting, Agent Murphy,’ Messina objected. ‘Miss Y/L/N, would you be so kind to share the information that you have with the agents.’

Y/N smiled politely at Javier’s boss. ‘Mr Rivera has been visiting the Teatro during my rehearsals. I don’t think I need to clarify that his attention is not something that I enjoy having. He’s made it clear that he’ll be attending the premier of the opera I’m in. If you manage to catch him then and there, I’m sure he’ll help you get to Escobar.’

Javier and Steve looked at each other. Okay, that was some big fucking news.


	2. Chapter 2

‘Miss Y/L/N,’ Javier called after the woman as she was about to get inside the president’s car. ‘I, uh— I’m sorry if I offended you.’

Y/N looked perplexed, but a smile crept onto her face. ‘You did not, Agent Peña. I’m used to being overlooked in serious circles given my occupation and sex.’

‘No, I didn’t mean—‘

‘It’s alright, Agent Peña. I know you didn’t mean any harm. But I’m putting my life on the line for the greater good. I hope you can appreciate that.’

She bid him goodbye and the president’s chauffeur opened the car door for her. Javier remained in his place, feeling — for the first time in probably forever — absolutely fucking idiotic. 

* * *

Javier walked back in his and Steve’s office and gracelessly fell in his chair, drawing the old cigarette from its place in the ashtray and lighting it up again. He let the smoke enter his body and held it the for a second before releasing it. He rubbed his temple with his left hand and looked at the paperwork in front of him.

Steve was going through his copies of the files on Rivera and he was talking, but Javier wasn’t listening. He was thinking about a certain pair of pretty eyes that seemed to look at him with something akin to disappointment. Steve seemed to notice that his friend wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying and sighed. He put the folder down and clapped his hands loudly in front of Peña’s face.

‘Hey, fuck you, man!’ Javier exclaimed, trying to cover up the fact that he got startled.

‘Are you going to act all hung up on every pretty woman that gets somehow involved in this case.’

‘I ain’t hung up on her,’ Javier replied defensively. ‘What were you saying? I’m all ears.’

‘I was saying that while you were running after Miss Y/L/N, Messina said she wants us at theatre tomorrow to check out if Rivera will appear. The Ambassador allowed it. We wouldn’t get involved in any way, but go in purely for reconnaissance.’

‘What if the fucker doesn’t show up tomorrow? You wanna grab a pair of sleeping bags and move into the theatre?’

‘Miss Y/L/N seemed adamant that he visits her during rehearsals every day,’ Steve contested. ‘When have you objected to a dull mission. All we gotta do is sit somewhere with a good view and see if Rivera comes in.’

Javier sighed. At least doing something was better than their current state of warming their office chairs and waiting on any sort of news on Escobar or his people. Their whole job was grasping at straws and hoping they’d hold out.

‘When do the rehearsals start then?’ he asked.

Murphy looked over a piece of paper that Messina had given him, ‘Let’s see… Morning through early afternoon is choir rehearsal, then they go into a break. Y/N has a solo rehearsal from then until 7PM. She’s told Messina that Rivera goes to visit around that time.’

‘Okay then,’ Javier finished his cigarette and put it back in the ashtray. ‘Anything else we need to get done for the day?’

‘Nah, this is the only thing,’ Steve closed the folder and left it on top of his pile. He stood up and stretched. ‘Come on, we gotta pick up Connie from work.’

Javier gave his partner a confused look to which Steve rolled his eyes, ‘Thursday.’

‘Oh, fuck! Yeah,’ Javier slapped his thigh.

‘Don’t tell me you got other plans. Connie will have my head and then yours.’

‘No, I just forgot.’ Javier got up form his seat and grabbed his brown jacket. ‘Let’s go, asshole. I need a drink.’

‘Oh, because you wanna forget about your tiny cwush on the pwetty lady?’ Steve joked.

‘Fuck off, man.’

* * *

The small diner where Javier, Steve and Connie went on some Thursdays was mostly empty. There rarely were more than fifteen people at all times; the place was peaceful which made it perfect for the three. The diner had an inside garden where most of the wooden tables were located; each had a white table cloth and a candle lantern in the middle so the patrons could see each other and their meal. The music that usually sounded over the crappy speakers was from some local radio that played Spanish ballads. The place really was a small piece of heaven, away form the noise and troubles of the city.

A waiter brought the company their drinks: a gin tonic for Connie and two beers for Steve and Javier. 

‘So this singer can help you get to… Escobar?’ Connie whispered the name as to avoid any eavesdroppers. ‘Doesn’t that put her in danger?’

‘It does, but the president and our government expect us to give her the protection needed,’ Steve explained to his wife.

‘And she won’t get us to Escobar.’ Javier took a large gulp from his beer. ‘She’ll get us to a guy who’s close to him, but then it all depends on the guy actually spilling the beans.’

‘Also Javier won’t let Y/N be in imminent danger,’ Steve grinned.

‘Ohhh,’ Connie’s interest seemed instantly piqued, ‘do you like her, Javier?’

‘Shut the fuck up both of you,’ Peña tried to concealed his fluster by taking another large sip.

‘Oh, he was ogling her like you wouldn’t believe it,’ Steve continued. ‘He did act like a bit of a dick in front of her.’

‘Oh no!’ Connie feigned horror.

‘But then he ran after her to apologise and be a gentleman or something. Swear to fucking god, it was like one of those telenovelas!’

‘Will you two just cut it off?’ 

‘Javier,’ Connie began, ‘it’s alright if you like her. Just because you keep a front of being a tough ol’ nut, doesn’t mean you can’t be soft from time to time. I’ve seen you with Olivia. You’re a big softie.’

‘I’m not—’ Javier groaned, ‘no, I don’t- I’m not attracted to Y/N. I just think she has… nice eyes.’

‘Eyes?’ The Murphy’s repeated incredulously. 

‘Yeah, now can we talk about something else?’

‘Oh, this is so Pride and Prejudice!’ Connie laughed.

Javier and Steve looked at her in confusion. Steve asked first, ’Pride and Prejudice?’

‘You know, like… when Mr Darcy first met Lizzie Bennet he thought she had nice eyes.’ Connie smiled at Javier. ‘You’re a Mr Darcy.’

Javier seemed just as confused as he was before Connie’s “explanation”. He didn’t get what Pride and Prejudice was nor what this Mr Darcy had to do with him.

‘It’s a book.’ Connie rolled her eyes. ‘You two need to get some culture in ya, _stat_. Maybe it’s a good thing that you’ll be around an opera singer for a while. She might do you some good. Especially you, Javi.’

Javier groaned and slammed his head on the table. Steve laughed.

‘Just change the subject, please.’ Javier lifted his head so the incoming waiter could place his order in front of him. ‘How’s the little traitor?’

Connie went into a full tirade about how Olivia had started sleeping through most of the nights and was crying less and less which meant that both her and Steve could get more sleep themselves. Javier remembered the first couple of weeks after his friend had taken the baby in. The first morning after, Steve looked like someone had ran him over with a bus and he’d claimed to be feeling just like that. 

They ate and talked and time slipped through like knife through soft butter. When it came time to say goodbye for the evening, Javier thanked Connie and Steve for the nice outing but declined their offer for a lift home. He was feeling restless and wanted to go somewhere else. He assured Steve he’d see him the morning at work and the two shook hands. Connie opted to give Peña a hug.

Javier put his hands in his pockets and walked down the street, passing by people who were enjoying the warm evening. There was music, sounds go passing cars and people talking or yelling. Javier tuned them out and continued walking in the direction of… something. He felt odd. He still felt bad about insulting Y/N, especially since she really was doing a huge sacrifice by offering to help them catch Rivera. 

‘I’m putting my life on the line for the greater good. I hope you can appreciate that.’

And he did! He really did! She had a fucking pair for doing something like that, because if anything failed and Rivera learned that she rat him out to the government… Javier tried to ignore the weird feeling in his gut and the tightening in his throat at the thought. Escobar and people around him didn’t care for human life. They’d shown as much. And Javier had already failed one informant, he didn’t want to risk this one, too.

His feet had taken him to one of the local brothels he’d visited once or twice. ‘Why not?’ Javier thought to himself. Get a girl for the evening and fuck that anxiousness out of himself.

Javier walked in, met with Madame and asked for one of the girls. Didn’t matter which one. The elder woman smiled at him slyly and led him to a room where most of the prostitutes were lounging. She gave them a quick order in Spanish and they lined up, each of them ogling the handsome man that had just walked in. Madame asked Javier which one he liked best and he gave them all a once over until his eyes stopped on one that wore a short red sequinned dress and a pair of stilettos. She gladly grabbed him by the hand and showed him to a separate room.

Javier was quick to strip the dress off of her body, earning a gasp from the woman. She was naked underneath and Javier felt his dick grow a little bit harder seeing her toned body. She grinned and planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth, her tongue shamelessly licked inside Javier’s mouth. He in return let his hands wander from her arms to her thighs and by giving themsqueeze, the woman jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her pussy rubbed just above Javier’s crotched cock which elicited a low grunt from the man.

Javier dropped her on the bed, without breaking contact between his mouth and hers. She removed the jacket from his shoulders and started working on the buttons of the shirt underneath. Javier helped her out by shrugging the piece of clothing off his body and working to undo his belt. 

The woman stopped him and told him to lie down. They switched positions; she seductively began unbuckling Javier’s belt, then unbuttoned his jeans and slowly worked them down his legs. He toed off his shoes and socks and pushed himself up on his elbows to look down at the prostitute that was now wrapping her long, slender fingers around his cock. Javier let out a long, strangled moan and let his head fall back down on the bed. She gave his shaft a couple of experienced pumps, spitting on it to make it slicker. She moved her hand fast, up and down, up and down. When she was happy with the sounds her client was making, she wrapped her lips around the head of his cock and slowly took him in until he had half of him inside her mouth. Her hand moved up to meet her lips in the middle and she continued like that: mouth moving down to bump against her hand which was pumping the base of Javier’s cock. He could feel her tongue press flat against the underside and the tip hit the back of her throat. The woman gagged and moaned, sounds that vibrated along the shaft in her mouth.

‘F-fuck!’ Javier cursed low and grabbed a fistful of the woman’s hair. He looked down and saw her eyeing him through thick, fake eyelashes. But the eyes were wrong. Instantly his mind produced the image of a pair of eyes that fit much better. Then with the eyes came features like the eyebrows and nose and lips and chin… until all he could picture was Y/N’s face and her lips wrapped around his cock.

Javier stopped the woman. ’ _On your hands and knees_ ,’ he ordered. She seemed content with the suggestion and quickly obeyed. She threw a silver package at him which he caught, expertly ripping it open and taking out the condom, rolling it down his shaft. She put her elbows down on the bed and lifted her ass in the air. Javier lined his cock with her entrance and pushed in, the woman beneath him letting out a long, high-pitched moan. Javier closed his eyes and his mind tricked him into evoking that same image back to the surface. This time his imagination put Y/N’s face to her body, underneath him with her chest fluttering as she took gasping breaths while Javier fucked her into the mattress. Would she whimper or moan or would she call out his name? The thought of her saying his name with eyes partially closed … Javier’s hip movements stuttered as he fully pushed himself inside the woman underneath him, growling a sting of curses in English and Spanish.

When he’d caught his breath, he put his clothes back on. He fished out a couple of bills he knew would suffice and handed them to the prostitute who grabbed them and left the room. 

Javier hurried out of the brothel, his heart hammering in his chest at the thought that he’d just fucked a prostitute to the thought of a woman he barely knew. A woman whose name was sinfully hanging at the tip of his tongue in his moment of ecstasy.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve thought it was weird when he walked in his and Javier’s office at 8AM and found the man himself sleeping on his desk. Javier’s arms were folded under his head as a makeshift pillow and he was snoring loudly. Steve chuckled and slammed his bag on the office desk hard which startled Peña. He jumped, looked around and when his eyes landed on Murphy he glared.

‘Morning, sunshine,’ Steve greeted with a grin. ‘What the hell are you doing sleeping here?’

Javier rubbed his eyes and rolled back his shoulders. ‘Hm, came here last night to do some work.’

Murphy knew his friend well and understood there was some other reason for his behaviour, but didn’t push. In their several years of friendship, they’d learned each other’s behaviours and limits. Steve knew that if Javier wanted to open up and share what was bothering him he would. 

The two spent most of the morning going over the information they already had on Diego Rivera and the accounts on his work with Escobar. There was certainly no use in interrogating someone from his Bogotá brothel because they knew those women (and the few men) were highly paid and wouldn’t be down to revealing anything that could possibly compromise their employer. According to the file they had on Rivera, he had a wife and three children in Bolivia that he hadn’t visited in more than a year. In that time he’d had two extramarital “relations" with his wife’s niece (both agents grimaced at that information) who had returned to Bolivia and then with one of the women from his brothel. 

‘Do you think we could interview her?’ Javier looked up at Steve, pointing to the information on the latter woman.

‘We could,’ Steve mused, ‘if you know any psychics.’ Javier raised his eyebrows at his comment and Steve passed him a photograph of the woman. ‘The fucker beat her to death. She was dumped on the steps of a morgue in the spring.’

‘Fucking hell,’ Javier groaned, rubbing his face. He knew that the people they were chasing were cruel, he shouldn’t have been surprised. ‘Anything else we got on him?’

‘Not much,’ Steve stated and looked over some of the remaining pages, ‘nothing that we can use to arrest him. We can’t connect him to the murder of the prostitute. We can hope that Y/N can help us in that regard.’

Javier tried to ignore the odd feeling in his gut at the mention of her name and stuck his nose in a different folder. He shut it when he couldn’t pretend to be reading it anymore and threw it back on the desk. 

The time came for Javier and Steve to head to the theatre. When they got to the main staircase they were stopped by Messina who was coming in just then. 

‘Murphy, you’re staying,’ she informed them, ‘I need you on another job. Peña can go by himself.’

Steve and Javier shared a look of confusion. ‘I was under the impression you were sending us both to observe,’ Steve replied.

‘There’s no need to send two people on a one man’s job. As I said, Peña can go by himself. Also, Peña,’ Messina turned to Javier, ‘the president has requested that we send someone to act as a “bodyguard” to Miss Y/L/N. I’m trusting you with that.’

She handed him a folder and asked Steve to follow her. The two agents exchanged a quick goodbye, they couldn’t argue with their superior after all so they had to accept the new orders. Javier left the building and headed to his jeep. Once inside, he opened the glove box and chucked the folder inside, giving himself a mental note to check it out later. He put his key in the ignition and slowly reversed out of the embassy parking lot. 

* * *

The Teatro Colón was truly a beautiful building inside and out. Javier was lucky that there was a helpful enough cleaning lady who was willing to show him the way to a good viewing spot in the concert hall, after he told her that he was a friend of one of the singers and wanted to watch her rehearse. The old lady guided Javier up a spiral staircase that ended at an arched entranced covered by a thick red curtain. The woman pulled the curtain and showed him inside a lavish theatre box, pointing to a chair with a good view of the stage. Before departing she requested that he kept quiet as to not disturb the rehearsal. ‘ _If anyone asks, I wasn’t here_ ,’ she said with a cheeky grin and bid him goodbye.

Javier carefully moved towards the chair and took a seat, wiggling his butt when it made contact with the soft cushioned seat. He was in the box closest to the stage so he agreed with the old woman’s opinion that he had a pretty good view. He crossed his arms and looked down at the stage. There was a man playing scales on a piano that, pulled to the side of the stage. Pages upon pages of music were scattered on top of the instrument, the pianist looking through a bunch of them. There were a couple of other people chatting softly in the other corner when the patter of steps grew louder and closer. 

Y/N, dressed much more casually than last time, appeared out of the wings and Javier’s eyes followed her movements. She smiled at the pianist and two other people. Y/N carried a folder that she carelessly tossed to the floor.

‘ _Sorry, just needed to grab a bottle of water._ ’ She lifted the bottle in question, took a quick sip and put the bottle next to the folder. Y/N cleared her throat and let out a few weird noises that rang through the massive concert hall. The pianist pressed a key on the piano and Y/N matched the tone, slowly rising up the scale until she reached a note so high it made Javier’s eyebrows shoot up. 

‘ _Okay, can we take it from Violetta’s first aria? Enrique, can you sing Alfredo’s parts for me, please. Thank you, my friend,_ ’ Y/N spoke in perfect Spanish, Javier thought. He already liked her voice, but hearing her speak in his mother’s tongue felt even more… exhilarating. He rested his elbows on the velveteen ledge of the box and continued watching as Y/N was preparing to sing.

She rolled her shoulders back, cleared her throat once more and took a deep inhale through her nose. 

‘È strano! È strano! in core scolpiti ho quegli accenti!’ She sang, her eyes travelling up until they met Javier’s and she instantly stopped. For a moment he felt like he was intruding upon a private moment and thought that maybe he shouldn’t have been so visible. The pianist cleared his throat and asked if anything was the matter. Y/N ripped her gaze away from Javier and shook her head at the pianist.

Javier, feeling flustered, sat back in his chair and tried to hide a little bit behind the red curtains that decorated the sides of the box. 

Y/N started over her aria and her voice carried effortlessly across the massive concert hall, reaching every nook and corner. Javier rested his head on the wall and listened closely to her song. He didn’t understand much of the Italian apart from words he recognised in his own language, but felt no need to know the meaning behind the lyrics. Y/N acted out the meaning behind her song in a way that made translation something truly needless. 

Y/N tentatively lifted her head up until her eyes landed back on their previous subject: Javier. He didn’t know what else to do but keep his gaze trained on hers as she continued on with her song. She would look back down and around the hall as if singing to an imaginary audience but her eyes would constantly go back to watching Javier. 

Was she she surprised to see him there? She must’ve been. After all, she made it obvious she was insulted to some degree by Javier’s words to her during the meeting in the Ambassador’s office. At the memory of the expression of disappointment and annoyance she gave him as she left with the president, the thoughts that rushed through his head, his quick excuse to the Ambassador and Messina. Fuck! He rushed like a lost puppy after her to apologise because he truly was sorry for demeaning her presence in the room. 

Maybe Connie was right and he did like her. Maybe. He’d never sat down to think about feelings in a very long time, especially his own for that matter. 

This is stupid, Javier scoffed internally. Murphy is right and you really are starting to get hung up on every pretty woman that somehow gets involved with this case, he chastised himself, rubbing his face. He needed a cigarette and sleep. Or better, a stiff drink. 

But Y/N’s voice broke him out of his train of thought as she reached an incredibly high note with absolutely no sign of strain on her face. She grinned widely when the two other people on the stage clapped and yelled, ‘Bravissimo!’ for her to which she laughed in earnest. She glanced up to see if Javier was still there and let a half smile form on his face while giving her a soundless applause. Impressed, he mouthed. Her smile grew wider and in her own way, Javier believed, she’d forgiven him.

The rehearsal resumed with other songs from whatever show they were doing. Javier promised himself, he’d ask. He just made himself comfortable for the time being and enjoyed watching and listening to Y/N perform.

At some point the pianist called for an end to the rehearsal and Y/N thanked him for his time, shaking his hand. She waited for everybody to leave through the wings, hands clasped behind her back. Then when she was alone on stage and in the hall, she turned towards Javier.

‘Any final thoughts, Agent?’ She asked through a smirk.

‘Incredible!’ Javier replied. ‘Ten out of ten. A must see.’

Y/N laughed out loud at his comment, ‘Wait there.’ She picked up her folder and bottled and hurried off stage.

For a moment Javier was left by himself, wondering where she went off to. When all of a sudden she pushed the curtain to the box and waved her hand for him to follow.

‘How can you find your way around? This is a fucking maze,’ Javier complained but followed suit. 

‘The theatre here is built in Italian style. I practically grew up in a theatre much like this one, in Milano.’ Y/N explained simply. She guided Javier down a corridor until she reached a door with her name written on a metal plaque. Y/N invited him in and offered him a seat.

‘I suppose Cesare asked for someone to keep an eye one me,’ Y/N pondered, throwing her folder on the vanity table. ‘Maybe it’s good that this person is you, Agent Peña. I’ve been told you’re good at your job.’

Javier felt a flutter at the praise, ‘Ugh, I guess. I uh- really meant to apologise for my behaviour yesterday.’

‘Agent Peña—‘

‘Javier,’ Javier interrupted her. ‘Call me Javier. Please.’

Y/N obviously couldn’t restrain her smile at the revelation of the man’s name. ‘Javier,’ she repeated it and Peña kicked himself for imagining her whimpering the name while riding him, her body covered in sweat. He covered his slight embarrassment with a feigned cough and tried to cross his legs in a way that would cover the semi that had started growing in his jeans. 

He wanted to say something smart that would be an exit of his little thought blunder when a booming male voice came from outside the dressing room. The person was arguing with someone else so Javier looked in Y/N’s direction to ask who it was. He was met with the look of quiet horror on her beautiful face. He quickly got up and she stared at him. ‘Rivera,’ was all she said. She frantically looked around the room and pointed to her wardrobe. Javier didn’t need any more explanation and hurried off to his hiding place just in time as the door opened. He left a crack in the door so he could see what was going on.

In walked Diego Rivera. Salt and pepper hair, pushed back by unknown amounts of hair gel. White linen suit over a light blue shirt. And to top up his eccentric, South American dandy look, he carried a cane with a very large precious gem at the top. The man was a fucking cartoon. It’s a front, Javier thought, because who would suspect that the nice dressed gentleman would also be a murderer and collaborator with the most notorious drug kingpin in the southern hemisphere?

‘ _My darling_ ,’ Rivera opened his arms in a welcoming gesture and walked towards Y/N, planting a kiss on her cheek that lasted few seconds too long. The courteous smile she’d plastered on her face when he walked in faltered. 

‘ _Señor Rivera_ ,’ she muttered.

‘ _I’m saddened I missed your rehearsal, little girl._ ’ he licked his lips, looking down at her casual outfit. Y/N crossed her arms over her chest. Javier noticed how her eyes darted towards the place her was hiding in and for a second she seemed ready to call for his help, but quickly regained composure.

‘ _Señor Rivera, you’ll grow tired of my screeching, should you continue to come to my rehearsals._ ’

‘ _Not at all, my darling,_ ’ Rivera spoke in an overly sweet manner and stepped even closer to the young woman which made Javier sick to his stomach. A memory resurfaced; the dead prostitute in the picture, one of Rivera’s victims, a proof that the sweetness in his words hid a horrible monster. A secret poison. Javier reached around and felt around the back of his jeans where he kept his gun. He knew he couldn’t shoot the bastard, he would lose an important lead to the Escobar case. He had to put his faith in Y/N and her ability to talk her way out of a sticky situation. 

‘ _Well,_ ’ Y/N breathed out, ‘ _I thank you for the visit. Let me walk you out and I will see you again next week, Señor Rivera._ ’

She tried to push past him but he put a large hand on her shoulder and pushed her back against the vanity table. ‘ _I was hoping you’d let me take you out for a dinner. I suppose you haven’t seen much of our lovely city since coming here._ ’

‘ _Señor Rivera_ ,’ the tremble in her voice was audible, ‘ _I thank you for the invitation, but I must decline. Perhaps… you could take me out for dinner after my premiere next Friday?_ ’

The creep seemed delighted with her suggestion, ‘ _Very good. Well, I’ll leave you to your business, little girl. Meanwhile, if there’s anything you want…_ ’ he lowered his face close to her right ear. Y/N gulped loudly, white knuckling the edge of the vanity table. Rivera left another long kiss on her cheek. Javier’s blood boiled and he fidgeted in his hiding spot, his hand on the gun. Don’t. Shoot. The bastard. Y/N spared another quick look to the wardrobe, barely shaking her head as if to say “be quiet”. Javier inhaled through his nose and let go of his gun. Rivera took a step back and grinned. ‘ _Well, you can always phone my residence._ ’

Y/N thanked him and showed him out of the room. When the sound of Rivera’s steps and cane disappeared behind the dressing room door, Y/N collapsed in a chair. Javier stumbled out of the wardrobe and rushed to her side, crutching down in front of her. Her eyes were closed shut and she was trying to ease her panicked breathing.

‘Y/N?’

‘I’m alright,’ she exhaled and opened her eyes to look at Javier. He wanted to say something to give her some peace of mind maybe, but he knew he sucked at saying the right thing so instead he kept quiet. He tentatively reached out and placed his large palm on her cheek. Y/N leaned into the touch and sighed.

‘Do you want me to give you a lift home?’ Javier asked softly. ‘I mean, I’m supposed to be guarding you.’

‘Yeah, um—‘ Y/N pulled away form his touch and Javier felt an off little sensation in his hand when it left her cheek. He got up and offered a hand to Y/N who accepted it with a smile. ‘I’d love a lift home.’


	4. Chapter 4

It was needless to say that Y/N found Agent Javier Peña extremely attractive. 

How could she not. He had that ruggedly suave look about him that just drew you in, like a film star from the Golden age of Hollywood. He was tall and his skin showed the lingering affects of constant exposure to the ruthless Colombian sun. His forehead and the crinkles at the corners of his deep brown eyes showed a man prematurely aged by the life he led. But those imperfections did not make him any less handsome, in fact Y/N pondered over how they seemed to make him unforgettable in her eyes. And god! did she love his moustache!

Y/N wasn’t impressed by his initial behaviour; she was understandably upset when he almost outright called her a whore. She was passionate woman by nature, raised by a strong mother and a father who revelled in his wife’s strength. Y/N disliked being belittled by men who thought they didn’t owe her respect just because she was a pretty girl with a pretty voice. Javier Peña turned out to be a different kind… thank god! When he ran after her to apologise, he shocked her. She didn’t expect him to be the one to admit his faults but he did. Yes, her reply to him at the time was biting, but in retrospection Y/N regretted she didn’t thank him for his apology. Javier was sincere but he also needed to understand the basis of her being involved with the DEA and his government — she was risking her life to (hopefully) prevent more innocent lives from being taken. 

* * *

If Y/N allowed herself the indulgence of admiring Javier’s profile as he drove her back to her place, she could excuse it as an attempt to calm her nerves after the encounter with Diego Rivera. She was still pretty shaken; the realisation that she’d made a deal to capture the man who was standing before her, a man who could very easily kill her if he so decided, took all of her fearlessness. Then there was the DEA agent hidden in her wardrobe and Rivera’s hands on her. Y/N needed a stiff drink as soon as she got home.

Javier helped her out of his jeep when they got to her building and reached back into the car, fishing out a folder from the glove box. The two walked towards the entrance in silence. Y/N thanked the doorman and bid him a good evening. Javier nodded at the man and muttered a quick greeting. 

The apartment César had given Y/N for the duration of her stay was an official residence for anyone from the president’s family. The gesture did not go unnoticed once Y/N arrived and she had made sure to thank him with a bottle of the cognac he liked. The apartment was nothing short of opulent; a place with a living room so large it could probably be split into two smaller rooms that would still be rather big. The French windows were covered by thick drapes which reminded Y/N of the theatre and a green marble fireplace was placed in the furthest corner of the room.

‘You can sit over there,’ Y/N turned to Javier and pointed him in the direction of the sofa by the fireplace. ‘Would you like a drink?’

‘What are you offering?’

Y/N snorted, ‘Cesare has left me almost anything. There’s a bottle of red wine he left for me as a welcoming present.’

‘I’m more of a whiskey guy myself.’

‘Curious. So am I,’ Y/N grinned. ‘Whiskey is the globe over there. There should be glasses in the cupboard beside it. Would you mind pouring me a glass too, I just want to go change into something else.’

* * *

Standing in front of her wardrobe, Y/N felt like a silly schoolgirl trying to impress a boy she liked because she couldn’t agree on one single outfit. My god! was she looking for something to wear or for something for Javier to take off of her. Y/N swiftly pushed away that thought and grabbed a red summer dress that was modest enough but didn’t shy from revealing her body’s natural curves. 

Her bare feet padded along the old wooden floors of the apartment towards the living room. Javier was sitting on one end of the sofa by the table lamp, with his whiskey in one hand and the folder in the other, reading a document of some sorts. When he heard Y/N come in he seemed like he was trying to subtly check her out which only boosted Y/N’s confidence. She sat on the sofa next to him, leaving a good enough distance between herself and the DEA agent so as to not be too awkward, nor too pushy.

‘Um, here’s your drink,’ Javier cleared his throat and handed her a glass that was sitting on his side table. Y/N thanked him and reached out to grab the glass, involuntarily brushing her fingers against his. ‘Er, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you back there. With Rivera.’

‘It’s alright,’ Y/N whispered while taking a sip from her whiskey, enjoying the way the burning liquid slowly trickled down her throat. ‘I’m afraid he’s not the first… “admirer” of mine to behave inappropriately and he won’t be the last. It just overwhelmed me. Him there, the fact that I’m working with your government to catch him. I’ll be alright after a couple more of these,’ she raised her glass to make her point. 

‘That’s something I can help with,’ Javier replied, offering his glass for a toast. Their glasses clinked together and the two drank.

* * *

Y/N was laughing her ass off at a story Javier was telling her about a bust of one of Escobar’s men.

‘So the guy,’ Javier snorted, almost spilling his drink on himself, ‘fuck! So the guy is in bed. With a prostitute.’

‘Ugh,’ Y/N groaned. ‘What a rascal!’

Javier laughed, ‘Listen, listen! He’s in bed with the prostitute. And we burst inside the room. Ten guys in total. Guns raised. The woman shrieked and kicked that bastard off the bed. And,’ Javier tried to contain his laughter, ‘he was wiggling on the floor. Butt fucking naked. Like a fish out of water. Like,’ he flayed his arms around, shrieking. Y/N laughed. ‘Sounded like a fucking seagull!’

‘Oh, god!’ She wiped away a tear, giggling. ‘That deserves a toast!’

‘Hear, hear!’

Y/N stood up on wobbly legs and raised her glass in the air, ‘To sleazy bastards who will always get caught. ¡Salud!’

‘¡Salud!’ Javier repeated and downed his drink.

Y/N slammed her glass on the coffee table and fell down on the sofa, this time much, much closer to Javier. They were leaning heavily on each other, very much drunk and still giggling. Y/N smiled at the man next to her. Fuck, did he smell good! What was that? Some kind of aftershave?

‘I’m, uh- gonna smoke. Is there a balcony here?’ Javier asked, his face flushed. 

‘You can smoke inside,’ Y/N spoke in a low voice, ‘but only if you let me butt a cigarette off of you.’

‘I couldn’t possibly refuse you.’ Javier reached into his back pocket and fished out a pack of cigarettes. He drew one and gave it to Y/N, then got one for himself. He looked for his lighter in his front pocket and offered it first to Y/N.

‘A real gentleman should offer to light a woman’s cigarette.’

‘I’m not a gentleman.’

‘I doubt that.’ Y/N put the cigarette between her lips and raised a single eyebrow. ‘Light my cigarette, Agent.’

Javier inhaled shakily, looking between the cigarette in Y/N’s mouth and her eyes, eyelids drooping sultrily. He flicked his zippo lighter and slowly brought the flame to the cigarette, lighting it. Y/N closed her eyes, inhaling the smoke. She rolled a bit to the left, pressing her back to the sofa and exhaled. She looked back at Javier who was lighting his own cigarette.

An idea popped into her head. It could either go terribly wrong or amazingly well.

She stood up and turned around to face the man lounging on her sofa. She pressed the cigarette between her lips again and took a long drag. Javier’s eyes were on her. He was breathing heavily.

Y/N stood between his open legs, her heart hammering in her chest. She put one knee on one side of Javier, unsure whether to continue. He seemed to notice that and put one hand on the back of her thigh, just bellow her ass, pulling her into his lap.

Y/N gasped, clutching the cigarette between her fore and middle fingers. Her face was centimetres away from Javier’s. Their breaths mixed. Whiskey and cigarette smoke. Javier bumped his nose against hers. A grin pulled at Y/N’s lips and she put her cigarette back to them. The smoke she drew in, she slowly released over Javier’s face.

As if under a spell, Javier growled, his large hands grabbed Y/N’s ass and flipped them over so she was lying on her back on the sofa and he was on top. Without dropping eye contact, Javier put out his cigarette in one of the whiskey glasses on the coffee table and then did the same with Y/N’s. 

Y/N lifted her head just a little and collided her lips with his, drawing an excited groan from the man’s throat. She giggled into the kiss at the tickling sensation his moustache left on her upper lip. Javier sneaked a hand up her body, from her left thigh up towards her breasts until it stopped at her neck. Y/N pushed her head back into the sofa’s cushions and sighed as Javier’s lips connected with the soft skin of her neck. Y/N wrapped her legs around the man’s back, which by wonderful chance formed friction between both their clothed crotches. 

‘Christ!’ Javier groaned and rolled his hips against Y/N’s, sealing his lips to hers once more to drink in the long-drawn moan that escaped her throat. 

‘Room. Right now.’ Y/N begged through another moan. She felt her body leaving the comfort of the sofa as Javier picked her up. Y/N wrapped her legs tighter around the man, kissing him with vigour. She wanted to taste all of him.

By the time she wondered if he’d found his way to her room, the DEA agent was dropping her onto the bed. He stood up, looking down at her and in the semi-darkness of her room Y/N saw thirst in his eyes. Javier unbuttoned his shirt and Y/N used the moment of brief separation to lift the hem of her dress and flung it somewhere on the floor, now only in her sports bra and purple bikini bottoms. She propped herself on her elbows and observed the man before her.

Javier looked down at her semi-nude body and let out a shaky breath. Y/N relished in the effect she had on him. She looked down at the man’s jeans, then back to his eyes and whispered, ‘Off.’

Javier got the idea and hastily discarded his jeans, shoes and socks. Y/N pushed herself off the bed and scooted further back, Javier following suit. He climbed on top of her with his arms around Y/N’s head. He bent down and kissed her again, hungry and desperate. Y/N pushed her fingers into the curls at the base of his neck and pulled, eliciting a low moan from the man. She wanted to hear him make those sounds some more. So she trailed her fingers down his back and sank her nails into the skin, slowly pushing them back towards his neck. Javier groaned into her mouth and pushed his clothed cock into her trembling core. 

Javier wasted no time in removing her bra with a single, experienced hand which reached around her back and undid the clasp. He pulled the garment off of her and threw it away. He kissed his way down Y/N’s jaw, neck, chest, until he had one of her nipples in his mouth — sucking and biting — while one hand was playfully pinching the other. Y/N sighed, threading her fingers through his hair. 

Javier left her abused nipple and kissed the skin just beneath her ear. ‘What do you want?’

‘You,’ Y/N whimpered, ‘please, I want you.’

Javier sighed into her neck and and pulled the hem of her panties, removing the piece off of her. He then did the same to his own briefs while not letting his mouth leave Y/N’s neck. When Javier’s underwear was off and joining the rest of the newly formed pile of clothes on the ground, Y/N reached down and wrapped her hand around the man’s now fully hard cock. Javier whimpered and let his head sink in the crook of Y/N’s neck. ‘Yes,’ he groaned when she gave his cock a few pumps. ‘Fuck, Y/N!’

‘I want you inside me,’ She said in his ear and dragged the tip of his cock along her entrance. She let her eyelids droop at the pleasure that small action gave her.

Javier pushed himself up by his hands again while Y/N guided him inside her pussy, her wet folds accepting him how the shore accepts the sea. She whined at the feeling of her walls stretching around the man’s cock. If she could hear Javier’s thoughts in that very moment, she’d understand just how overwhelming the feeling was to him as well. It felt like two pieces coming together into one. 

Javier left one hand on the pillow to hold him up and slowly let his other one drop down to Y/N’s thigh, hoisting it over his lower back. His fingers dug into the soft flesh as he moved further inside the woman beneath him. 

He moved slowly at first, testing out her limits and likes based on the sounds she made. Y/N’s hands were securely locked behind his neck as she tried to push her head further into the pillow. She let out an indignant sound when Javier slowly pulled out which was soon replaced by a high pitched moan as he drove his cock back inside her velvety folds with force and speed.

‘Oh,’ Y/N sighed into the warm air. Her lips barely traced the lines on Javier’s forehead as her words of praise and want turned into incoherent sounds of pleasure. 

Javier sneaked his hand between them and found that bundle of nerves that trembled at his touch. He played with her clit like he’d been born to do it. The sweet pressure of his thumb and fore finger and the feeling of his cock moving quickly inside of her, had Y/N on the verge of her climax. 

A single sound left her parted lips as she came, ‘Javier.’ Which in turn caused the man above her to stutter in his movements, only to press his forehead against hers and sink deeper inside her. He groaned, ‘Y/N’ and collapsed on top of her in a heap of sweat and tangled limbs.

Y/N pressed her nose to Javier’s curls which were tingling at her cheeks and took a deep breath, Javier’s scent engulfing her. She felt him kiss her shoulder and then pull out which made her gasp. 

Javier rolled over on his back and looked at her. He lifted his arm and Y/N smiled as she scooted over to him, wrapping herself around his body. Javier let his fingers run from her thigh up her side and back down again until Y/N was drowsing with her head pressed against the man’s chest. His heartbeat lulled her with its steady rhythm as she hoped that the wonderful sensation that had settled in her heart was reciprocated by the man in whose embrace she fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Javier had never spent the night at a woman’s place since Lorraine. Through the years sex had become… less special, so-to-say. At that point it was more to a means to get himself off and/or gather information, given that his past several lovers had been informants and sleeping with them was solely for business. He never stayed long enough to cuddle, he never spent the night. Until now.

Javier woke up to sunlight streaming through the semi-opened curtains in the room. He was laying on his side, his body enveloping Y/N’s smaller one. Both still very much naked. He smiled to himself, remembering everything from their evening escapades. 

He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at the still sleeping woman. He admired her peaceful features. Just then Y/N seemed to sense the lack of warmth on her back and rolled over on her back with a disgruntled moan. Javier grinned, lifting his hand to trace a finger along her nose, her lips, chin and neck. This simple action made Y/N sigh happily and inched closer to him. In her sleep, she lifted one of her legs and bent it at the knee. Javier noticed and got a devilish little idea. 

Without disrupting Y/N’s sleeping form too much, Javier sank lower and lower until his face was alined with her lower abdomen, leaving a chaste kiss just below her belly button. Y/N sighed again. 

Javier glanced up at her face and smirked, now focusing his full attention to sliding two fingers down the slit of her pussy. His tongue darted out and he tentatively licked at her clit, revelling in the sound that came out from deep within Y/N’s throat.

Javier pressed his lips to the small bundle of nerves and sucked gently, letting his teeth barely graze it, earning a quiet yelp from the woman above him. God, the sounds she could make! Javier lifted Y/N’s propped up leg and put it over his shoulder giving himself more space to work on bringing her pleasure. He slid two fingers inside her pulsating pussy and gave her clit a rather harsh suck which seemed to fully waken Y/N.

‘Javier,’ she moaned; the sound of his name rolling out from between her beautiful lips made him groan and roll his hips into the edge of the mattress. He needed any type of friction to satiate his aching cock. ‘Oh, Javier!’

‘Tell me what you want, baby.’ His face parted from her wet pussy just long enough to look up and admire the divine beauty, laying beneath him. 

‘M-more,’ she whimpered, running one hand over her left breast and her other hand she tangled in Javier’s hair. She tugged at the curly strands in delight when Javier went back to devouring her, expertly licking circles around her clit and applying the kind of pressure he knew she definitely liked based on the sounds she made.

The soft whimpers and moans soon turned to frustrated cries as she drew closer to her climax. Her thighs shook violently and Javier gripped them tightly to keep them from squeezing his head. Not that he wouldn’t have liked it; in hindsight Javier thought he would’ve gladly died between these thighs. But in the moment of passion he knew he needed to give Y/N pleasure and furiously sucked at her clit, his fingers moving in and out of her. Before he knew it, her walls tightened around his digits and her back arched off the bed sheets. 

‘Oh, dio mio!’ She gasped. ‘Sei incredibile!’

‘I’ll take it I did a good job.’ Javier rested his cheek on her thigh.

‘Fucking hell, Agent!’ Y/N laughed, looking down at him with glee in her eyes. ‘My turn.’

* * *

Javier walked back in the living room, letting Y/N change in peace. He grabbed the two glasses from the coffee table and made his way towards where Y/N had told him the small kitchen was. He made sure to throw away the two cigarettes in the bin and thoroughly wash the glasses before leaving them to dry. He grabbed another two water glasses, filling them.

‘What do you think?’ Y/N had walked in the room and Javier turned to ask what she meant but the words died on his tongue. She was wearing beige, high-waisted shorts and a tight-fitting tank top with a neckline so deep it left little to the imagination. But Javier didn’t need to imagine, he’d seen the everything that laid underneath her clothes and prided himself on that knowledge. What other man could say he’d seen true beauty like the one she was?

‘If it takes you so long to answer, I’m guessing the answer is not good,’ Y/N laughed, glancing down at her outfit.

‘No, no,’ Javier blurted, stepping forward. ‘You’re beautiful.’

‘Thank you.’ Y/N took a step towards him so her chest was almost touching his.

The two stared at each other. Javier put his fingers just below Y/N’s chin and lifted it higher so he could press his lips to her, with all the softness his rough nature permitted him. Y/N hummed into the kiss and wrapped her hands around the back of the man’s neck.

Javier pressed his forehead to hers once the kiss was over, just relishing in the feeling of her skin contacting his in such a subtle way. It made his heart flutter in his chest.

‘I wanna see Bogotá.’ She finally spoke.

Javier looked down at her expectant gaze. ‘Haven’t you seen it yet?’

‘Not really, the last few weeks have been mostly rehearsals and dress fittings and I haven’t had the time. But I really wanna do it now.’

‘I’m not sure it’s safe.’

Y/N rolled her eyes and scoffed through a smile, ‘Is that worry I detect in your voice, Agent Peña.’ She kissed him sweetly. ‘I’m not worried at all. You’re my guardian after all. I should trust you, shouldn’t I?’

Javier sighed and grabbed the two water glasses from where he left them on the sink, ‘Drink up, I’ll take you sightseeing.’

* * *

‘So where do you come from, Javier?’ Y/N asked while they were walking through one of Bogotá’s parks. The weather was nice and warm, fitting for the early autumn climate. The sun was poking from behind fluffy, white clouds and the rays were filtering through the leaves in the trees. Kids ran around the two and parents yelled their unruly offspring to stay put.

‘I’m from Laredo, Texas.’ Javier admitted and watched as Y/N nodded along to his words. ‘What about you? They briefed me that you were born in Italy.’

‘Yeah,’ she smiled, ‘I was born and raised there until I was about 14. Then I moved to the US with my godmother, in Alexandria.’

‘Fancy,’ Javier commented.

‘Yeah, it was.’ She rolled her eyes. She clasped her hands behind her back and skipped a few steps ahead like the children, running around them. Javier chuckled at her antics and observed as her hair bounced and golden sun rays glistened through the locks. She turned around and walked backwards while talking to him. ’Tell me, Javier. Should I be worried about an angry girlfriend, or a wife coming to scream under my window because I banged her partner.’

Javier gaped, but replied, ‘No, I’m not- not married. No.’

‘Oh,’ Y/N stopped skipping and turned back facing forwards. She glance at him, ‘Well, I guess that’s good. The only thing I should worry about then is dear Diego and he’s no walk in the park.’ She laughed though the laugh sounded kind of forced.

‘I was engaged before.’ Why did he say that?! Fucking idiot! ‘Back in Texas.’

‘Oh,’ Y/N stopped in her tracks. ‘But you didn’t… You obviously didn’t.’

‘Nope,’ Javier replied curtly, kicking himself for blurting the information like that and in front of Y/N at that. She definitely didn’t need to know about what happened with Lorraine. He was much different than how he was back then. Wait, why was he thinking that?

‘Did you love her?’ Y/N asked, almost inaudibly.

‘Who?’

‘That woman… in Texas?’

‘I think I did. Once upon a time. Not anymore’ Javier observed as something akin to relief crossed Y/N’s features. She smiled tightly and nodded.

‘Oh, good.’ She stopped herself. ‘No, not good like, I didn’t mean, I’m… churros, they sell churros over there. Let’s get churros, I like churros.’

Y/N hurried towards a stand at the end of the alley they were currently on and Javier rushed to catch up with her, not wanting to leave her walk on her own. And perhaps, deep down, he felt something stir in his gut at their peculiar exchange. Something like… delight. Stop being a fucking creep, he scolded himself as he stood next to Y/N at the churro stand.

‘Do you want some? My treat.’

‘Yeah, sure. But you’re not paying.’

‘Uhh, you bet your ass I am, honey.’ She sassed him, reaching into her back pocket to fish out some bills.

‘No, let me.’ Javier protested. ‘You’re a lady. I should be the one paying.’

‘Javier,’ she cut him off, handing the exported vendor the money and taking the two portions, giving the bigger one to Javier. ‘I’m a high-paid, internationally acknowledged opera singer. And I barely spend any money here, because Cesare insisted I stay at the apartment and not at a hotel. Now eat your fucking churros, tonto.’

‘Did you just call me an idiot?’ Javier laughed and the two walked towards a solitary bench that overlooked the small lake in the park. ‘You know just because you say something in Italian, doesn’t mean I can’t understand it through Spanish.’

‘Fuck, you’re right,’ Y/N giggled, munching on a piece of churro. ‘Okay, how about… Ich würde dich mich auf dieser Bank ficken lassen.’

‘Yeah, that’s…’ Javier laughed, but quickly made note of the expression on her face. ‘What did you say?’

‘Er, I said… that I’d let you fuck me on this bench.’ She sheepishly looked down at her dessert.

The words went straight to Javier’s cock which twitched in interest. ‘In front of all these people? That’s very bad, Miss Y/L/N.’ He leaned in, his face mere centimetres away from hers. 

Y/N gazed into his eyes and let out a shaky breath. ‘That’s why I didn’t say it in Spanish.’

Javier licked his lips which drew Y/N’s attention to them and she reached out her thumb to swipe some chocolate that had apparently gathered at the corner of his mouth. She brought the digit to her mouth and sucked on it, daring to look Javier square in the eyes while doing it which elicited a low grunt from him. He willed himself to regain composure and not act like an animal in heat. Thinking about it, he realised he couldn’t hide what this woman was making him feel.

‘How many languages do you speak?’

‘Quite a bit. Some I know thanks to the operas I’ve played in. My parents wanted me to be more… worldly and I had all sorts of tutors growing up in Italy. I even studied Latin, which was a bit of a stretch if you ask me.’

‘My mother demanded we speak Spanish only in our house,’ Javier admitted and smiled at the sweet memory. ‘She didn’t want me forgetting my roots.’

‘That’s so cute.’ Y/N touched his bicep which made chills run up and down Javier’s arm and back. Chills he couldn’t attribute to the warm weather. Why the hell was she affecting him like that. ‘My parents were immigrants, too. They didn’t like it when I’d say I forgot a word and would rather say it in Italian. The rules of the clan, my dad would say.’

‘Are they still in Italy?’

Y/N gulped and looked at the watery expanse that was the lake. ‘No. They died when I was fourteen.’

Fucking. Idiot. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.’

Y/N smiled at him, ‘You couldn’t have, it’s not exactly something I go around saying.’ She watched as a couple of children ran past their bench, carelessly cackling and shrieking. ‘It’s sort of why I’m doing this actually. Why I decided to… you know, the Rivera thing.’

Javier didn’t know what to say in that moment so he left his churro portion on the side and cautiously reached out to take Y/N’s hands in his. She glanced at their hands and interlocked her fingers with his and if only she knew the wonderful sensation that gripped Javier’s heart at that little action. 

‘They, out of no fault of their own, got entangled with the mafia there. My mother, she was a ballerina and one of the mobsters wanted her to… well, it would be an understatement to say that my father was enraged and apparently told that bastard that he could go stick his pecker in a meat grinder. The mob guy obviously didn’t like that and one day when my parents were getting in their car to pick me up from school.’ Y/N sighed and Javier stroked her hand with his rough, calloused thumb. ‘The carabinieri said that death came almost instantly so they didn’t suffer. Sorry this is… I didn’t want to sour the mood.’

‘You don’t have to apologise,’ Javier whispered, his eyes never leaving Y/N’s face. ‘Not to me.’

Y/N focused on his eyes and sighed deeply. ‘Rivera thinks he can treat me how that mafioso treated my mother. I won’t let him’

‘I won’t let him either,’ Javier swore. He lifted a hand and cupped Y/N’s cheek. She leaned into the gentle touch with a content little smile on her lips. ‘He’ll have to get through my dead, cold body.’

‘I’d much rather have you alive and well, thank you very much, Javier.’

Javier grinned at her admittance and kissed her, ‘Everything will go well. We’ll catch the bastard and he’ll pay for what he’s done. They all will. I won’t let anything happen to you.’ In a moment abundance of emotion (something that hadn’t happened to him in ages) he took her hand and put it over his heart. Y/N let out a small gasp and looked into Javier’s eyes with just as much emotion. ‘I promise you, cariño.’ 


	6. Chapter 6

Monday morning.

Once again Javier woke up to a pleasant weight on his chest. He looked down at the sleeping Y/N and drew her body closer to himself. In return, Y/N let out a string of incoherent noises and nuzzled her face in his chest. Javier let his head sink into the soft pillows and smiled, closing his eyes to enjoy the serenity of the moment.

They had spent the entire weekend alternating between talking and fucking. They were studying and opening up to one another which for Javier was a huge deal. However, something in his body assured him it was alright to let his guard down a little. He trusted Y/N, another achievement on his part. He knew he had a reputation for bedding anything in a skirt, but to himself he promised that Y/N wouldn’t be like that. He cared for her. He realised as much during their walk in the park. He truly, deeply cared for her and it scared him. He had forbidden himself of ever growing attached to a single person, he knew the risk. But he was willing to throw all that out the window for the woman curled up in his arms.

Javier’s fingers were absentmindedly drawing figures on Y/N’s upper arms and shoulder. His touch caused goosebumps to flood the planes of her delicate skin. Javier felt that the band t-shirt Y/N’d opted to wear to bed had rolled up during the night and the underside of her breasts was pushed up against the side of his chest. She wasn’t wearing any underwear either. Javier smirked to himself. It felt nice.

His cock obviously agreed with the thought and stirred inside his briefs.

‘Tell that little guy to cool it.’ Y/N mumbled against his chest and snickered. 

‘I think you calling him “little” was enough of a cool-off.’

Y/N draped one leg over Javier’s. ‘I’ll apologise to him in a minute. Just need to rest here for a little.’

‘You slept through the entire night, cariño.’ Javier chuckled. ‘What do you need to rest for?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Y/N lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him, ‘but weren’t you the man who fucked my brains out through my pussy last night? I deserve to sleep in.’

‘Oh, I don’t recall exactly. Was it me? You might need to refresh my memory.’ 

Y/N yelped as Javier rolled them over so he was on top of her. She giggled and looked into his eyes with giddiness. A huge smiled pulled at the corner of his lips as he bent down to plant them on top of Y/N’s in a sweet peck. ‘Good morning.’

Y/N hummed and used the fact that he’d let his guard down to flip them over. Javier gasped in surprise as he felt his arms being raised above his head. Y/N gently held his wrists in place as she took her turn to kiss her lover. ‘Good morning to you, too.’

‘I could get used to this,’ Javier groaned contentedly.

Y/N sat up and pressed her ass into his cock which was now slowly hardening as Y/N rolled her hips. Javier groaned, running his released hands along Y/N’s thighs. He looked up dreamily at that absolute vision of a woman; with her hair a mess and wrinkled Queen t-shirt.

‘Get used to what, Agent?’

‘Waking up to you in the morning,’ he admitted. 

Y/N’s smile grew and she looked down at where his hands were holding her at the very top of her thighs. She took his massive left hand in her two much smaller ones and brought it up to her cheek. Javier mustered all the gentleness in his person and ran his thumb over her cheekbone while Y/N held his hand in place. She then slowly dragged it down to her neck, collarbones and straight to the valley between her breasts. Javier could feel the rhythmic thump-thump of her heart beneath his palm. 

‘Me too.’

Javier sat up swiftly and wrapped his arms around her body, eliciting an excited little giggle from Y/N. She rested her arms over his shoulders and pressed her forehead against his.

Without parting from his touch, she rolled her hips against the growing bulge in Javier’s briefs and all he did was groan, the sound fading into the intimate space between their two faces. His arms tightened around her, one hand sliding underneath her t-shirt and exploring the skin where his teeth had left love bites the previous night.

Just then his satellite phone rang, interrupting their little moment of bliss.

‘Fuck,’ Javier huffed and reached to the bedside table, getting his phone. He laid back on the bed with Y/N still perched on top of him. She looked like she had no intention of moving and, honestly, Javier didn’t mind. He answered the call nonetheless.

‘Peña.’

 _‘It’s Steve. Sorry to call so early,’_ the other agent said. _‘Messina wants us to switch today.’_

Y/N rolled her ass over his cock again and Javier gulped, gripping her thigh. ‘Wh-why?’

 _‘I dunno. She said she doesn’t trust that you’ll keep your dick out of the case. Wants me to take over for the next couple of days._ ’

‘Mhm.’ Javier tried his best not to moan into the receiver when Y/N didn’t stop with her movements. ‘I can manage. Tell her that you can do whatever she wants me to do.’

‘Javi,’ Steve started on the other line but stopped, ‘are you- are you two fucking right now?’

Javier grabbed at Y/N’s thigh to stop her. She chuckled. ’N-no.’ Javier gave her a look that was supposed to be assertive but probably came out as more pleading.

 _‘God fucking dammit!’_ Steve laughed. _‘Ay, I didn’t think you’d take your head out of your ass with this one. Say hi to her from me.’_ He continued laughing.

Javier rolled his eyes. ‘Steve says hi.’

Y/N bent down to get closer to the phone, ‘Hello to you too, Agent Murphy.’

Steve started laughing even harder. _‘Just- just get over here, Peña. Messina’s not gonna change her mind.’_

‘Fine,’ Javier cleared his throat and sat up. Y/N stifled a surprised shriek at his sudden movement. ‘I’ll go to my place to get a change of clothes and I’ll be there in an hour.’

_‘Yeah, you better change your fucking clothes, you filthy bastard.’_

Javier hung up the phone on his friend who yelled “ _Bye, lover boy_ ” through his incessant laughter.

‘I’ll have to go into work today. Messina, my boss—‘

‘The DEA attaché? Yeah, nice woman.’

‘Well, she wants me and Steve to switch for a couple of days. Steve said something along the lines of her “not trusting me to keep my dick out of the case” or something like that.’

Y/N pursed her lips. ‘ _I_ trust you. Isn’t my word supposed to hold more weight than hers in this situation? After all, it’s me who you’re protecting.’

‘You’re not my boss,’ Javier shrugged and Y/N gaped at him.

‘Is that so, Agent Peña?’ She smirked, digging her hips harder into his cock, making Javier’s eyes roll to the back of his head. She put her lips over the shell of his ear and whispered, ‘Take them off.’

Javier didn’t need a formal invitation; he lifted her off his hips just enough to forcefully strip the briefs off his body and fling them at the floor. Y/N pushed him back down on the bed and put her hands on his chest. She rubbed her clit over his cock. The two moaned in unison at the pleasurable feeling. 

Y/N reached with one hand, guiding him to her entrance and sank down with a satisfied sigh. She closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over Javier’s chest. His gaze upon her was filled with hunger and adoration. Y/N lifted her hips once and then brought them down low, painstakingly slowly. Javier whimpered, wanting more, _anything_. 

Y/N’s movements became a little bit faster and followed a rhythm. Javier let his hands roam her body, squeezing her breast between his large hands. Y/N grabbed one of them and put it on her neck again. She smirked at him and winked, giving him a wordless order.

Without a second thought and with an animalistic growl, Javier pulled Y/N to himself by the throat. A choked sob escaped from between Y/N’s lips, but the smirk remained on her face. Javier pressed his heels into the bed and shoved his cock deeper and faster, looking up at Y/N to check if she was okay. Last thing he wanted was to hurt her. Instead, he was met with her half-lidded eyes and her mouth falling open to say, ‘That’s right, Daddy!’

Javier groaned, trying his best to hold himself together and not just come undone then and there like a fucking teenager at the sound of her calling him that nickname. ‘You like that, cariño. You like calling me “Daddy”, huh?’ Y/N bit her lip, eyes now closed shut. Javier thrusted up into her, melting on the inside at sight of her. He squeezed her throat, ‘Tell me!’

Y/N moaned at his command, ‘Yes, Daddy.’

‘Good girl!’

Y/N’s arms that had naturally fallen on either side of Javier’s head were shaking. Her hair was shrouding their faces. She pressed a sweaty forehead against his, her tongue darted out to lick Javier’s top lip, begging him to kiss her. He collided his mouth with hers and a passionate kiss that was on the line of being both loving and desperate. He pulled away and put two fingers on her lips. ‘Suck daddy’s fingers, cariño. Make ‘em good and wet.’

Y/N’s mouth opened wide to accept the two digits and suck them, her tongue swirling and thoroughly coating them in her saliva. Javier plucked them out and shoved them between their bodies, rubbing circles over her clit. Y/N sobbed on top of him, words becoming incoherent sounds of ecstasy. 

‘You’re so fucking wet, cariño! So fucking wet for Daddy!’

‘Y-yes, Daddy, only for you,’ she sobbed as Javier rubbed her clit, bringing her closer to completion.

‘You gonna come for Daddy? You gonna be a good girl?’

‘Yes, yes, yes!’ Y/N wailed as she toppled over the edge, coming hard and fast. 

Javier flipped them over and continued driving his cock in and out of Y/N’s pussy until he was too on his own precipice. He whimpered at the feeling of her velveteen walls surrounding him. Y/N cradled his head in her hands, her fingers entwined in the tiny curls of his sideburns. She pressed her lips to his. ‘Come for me, Javier.’ 

The words disappeared into Javier’s opened mouth, his movements stilled deep inside Y/N’s trembling pussy and the most pitiful cry came out in answer from between his lips.

He pressed their foreheads once more, his arched nose bumping against hers. Y/N pulled his face back and locked her eyes on his. She smiled tentatively and kissed him, slowly and delicately. Javier felt delicate himself, like he was made of something fragile. It was a weird sensation, but not unwelcome because he thought how alright with himself he felt being fragile to Y/N and her only.

He pulled out of her gently and laid on his side. The two held eye contact for what felt like eons. Y/N was stroking his cheek. Javier was rubbing circles into her thigh.

‘I should go,’ he spoke softly.

‘I know,’ Y/N replied and pressed her lips together, looking down. Javier drew her closer and kissed her.

He rose from the bed, lifting the blanket they’d kicked off the bed and wrapped Y/N in it, tucking her in. She silently watched him as he gathered his clothes off the floor. Once fully dressed he sat down on the bed and put his hand on Y/N’s cheek like he’d done so many times over that weekend. A gesture that brought warm feelings to both of them. ’I’ll see you again on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when Messina lets me. You can trust Steve, I trust him with my life. Rivera’s house is under surveillance so if he does anything I’ll know. If he… you just call me if he tries anything.’

‘Alright,’ Y/N tried to calm him and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something but seemed unsure.

Instead Javier spoke first. ‘I, uh… I will miss you.’

Y/N beamed. ‘I will miss you, too.’ She pecked his palm and Javier’s heart fluttered in his chest. ‘Please, be careful.’

‘I will be.’ He bent down to kiss her for one last time before leaving. _I love you_. His brain supplied the words but they couldn’t make their way out of Javier’s mouth, because he himself was afraid of the power they held. He promised himself he’d think over that impulsive thought, but for the moment he revelled in the fact that he was finally falling in love.

* * *

Y/N watched as the clock in the kitchen struck 9, reminding her that she should be leaving for the theatre. The entire company of La Traviata was going to have a first dress rehearsal and she was expected at 9:30 for costume fitting. So she quickly finished her coffee and poured a kettle-full of peppermint tea into a thermos she sometimes carried along for rehearsals. 

The caffeine and the exquisite morning sex had boosted her energy and she was excited for the day ahead. She called down to the building’s manager and asked him to call her a cab to the theatre. She briefly thought back to the evening Javier had given her a lift home and smiled. She’d spent the most amazing time with him during this past weekend and couldn’t help but wish he’d stay and keep her company over the week as well, maybe even come to watch her during rehearsals like he had done last week. Shaking her head, she remembered that he had a job that involved something other than looking after her (and fucking her during the spare time) and she had to stop herself from acting like a petulant brat, crying after not getting her way. She was a grown ass woman!

She gathered the stuff she needed for the day and ran down the stairs to the lobby, wanting to burn off some excess energy.

The drive to the theatre was quick and spent mostly in chatting with the cabbie. Once in front of the marvellous building, Y/N found her way around the foyer and towards a side door that would lead her to the backstage area and towards the stylists’ room.

 _‘Good morning, Doña Marina!’_ Y/N greeted the theatre’s senior stylist cheerfully. She was a slender woman past her middle age, who’d spent most of her life working there. She had the respect of everybody from the theatre’s staff and crew to visiting performers like Y/N herself. That’s why they all reverently referred to her as _Doña_. Lady.

 _‘My little songbird,’_ Doña Marina grinned from ear to ear, beckoning Y/N in for a tight hug. _‘Where have you been? Most of the choir is already dressed and the soloists as well. Come, we need to work quick!’_

She showed her to a changing station where Y/N could strip down and try on her costume’s undergarments. Once making herself appropriate, Doña Marina pulled her in front of a grand mirror and went to grab the grand red dress Y/N would wear during Act 1. It was accurately styled in the late 1850s fashion; a deep red gown with sloping shoulders and wide skirts.

 _‘Chiquita!’_ Doña Marina’s gasp swiftly transformed into a booming laugh. _‘My, my, child, who have you taken as a lover?’_

 _‘What?’_ Y/N asked incredulously and the old stylist pointed to the mirror. Y/N started laughing herself when she saw that the dress could not cover the many love bites Javier had left all over the skin of her neck and breasts.

_‘He must be an eager man. Wait, I’ll get some foundation.’_

_‘He really is,’_ Y/N absentmindedly rubbed at one of the bites, recalling the act that followed the appearance of that particular love bite, just below her left collarbone. 

Doña Marina came back with a sponge and started dabbing the proper shade of foundation to cover up the blemishes. _‘You must tell me about him? Is he a gentleman.’_

 _‘He is,’_ Y/N bit her lip and looked down, trying to hide her smile. _‘He’s incredibly funny, too. He makes me laugh.’_

 _‘Oh, that’s a good quality in a man! My stupid husband, Ricardo, made me fall in love with him by joking his way into my heart.’_ Doña Marina chuckled. _‘If that boy treats you bad, you tell me and I will saw his mouth shut.’_

 _‘That wouldn’t be necessary, Doña Marina!’_ Y/N laughed full-heartedly at her threat. _‘He’s a good man, I trust him.’_

 _‘Good, good.’_ The woman finished covering the love bites and gave the full outfit a final once over. _‘My, my, chiquita, you’re glowing. He must be really special. Is he coming to the premiere? To watch you perform?’_

 _‘I believe he will,’_ Y/N sighed, imagining Javier in a suit and tie, sitting amongst all the other audience members.

 _‘Well, I will make sure that you look breathtaking.’_ Doña Marina affectionately rubbed Y/N’s shoulders. _‘Oh, I almost forgot,’_ she chirped, returning to her desk and pulled out a box from one of the drawers. She brought it to Y/N and opened it. Inside was a beautiful necklace with red gems that perfectly suited her stage dress.

_‘It’s beautiful!’_

_‘Here let’s put it on.’_ Doña Marina carefully placed the necklace and clasped it, letting it fall naturally along the slope of Y/N’s throat. _‘Good, good. That man has a good taste in jewellery.’_ Doña Marina stated going back to her desk to leave the box.

 _‘What man?’_ Y/N looked at her reflection, her fingers grazing the intricate details of the bijou. 

_‘Señor Rivera, of course.’_ Y/N’s blood ran cold at the mention of his name. _‘He came ‘round to give me the necklace on Friday and insisted that you wear it during your performance.’_

 _‘I see.’_ Y/N was at a loss for words, but if she had to pick one to fit the way she felt in that very moment: horrified.

 _‘Go now, Chiquita.’_ Doña Marina pushed her along towards the exit of the room. _‘Go rehearse with the rest. And I’ll leave your clothes in your dressing room.’_

Y/N could barely stand up when out in the corridor. She made her way towards the entrance to the wings but had to stop half-way there because her lungs were giving out on her. She pressed her back against the wall and touched the necklace. It suddenly weighed a tonne and she couldn’t catch a breath. It was just like she’d told Javier. Rivera was doing the same thing that Italian mobster was doing to her poor mother. Her nightmares were slowly becoming a reality.

* * *

_Y/N was woken up by her parents’ loud voices and got up from her bed, dragging her feet along the carpeted floor. She followed the sound of the raised voices into the living room. The door was left wide open and she peeked inside to see her mother and father, arguing in front of the fire place. Y/N could only make out their silhouettes so she drew closer._

_‘He won’t stop!’_

_‘I’ll make him!’_

_‘No, please, don’t. He will hurt you. I can’t—‘_

_‘Mama? Papa?’_

_Y/N’s father turned around and saw his child, looking up at him with a quizzical look. Y/N’s mother had turned her back and was facing the flames in the fireplace._

_‘Hey, cara mia.’ He forced a smile on his face and Y/N knew there was something wrong. ‘Did Mama and I wake you up? I’m so sorry, we were just—‘_

_‘We were just talking, baby.’ Y/N’s mother turned around and Y/N could make out the traces of tears over her cheeks. Whoever made her mum cry was not a good person._

_‘You were arguing. What happened?’_

_Y/N’s mother huffed out a small laugh, but even to Y/N’s young ears it sounded terribly forced. ‘My smart little girl. So observant.’_

_The woman bent down and kissed her daughter’s cheek, pushing her fringe out of her eyes. Y/N’s father joined. He put one hand on his wife’s shoulder, she put hers over his and sighed. The two looked at Y/N with all their affection._

_‘Yes, Mama and I were arguing,’ Y/N’s father began, ‘but you don’t need to worry about it. It’s something silly. For grownups only.’_

_Y/N rolled her eyes and said, ‘I’m eleven, daddy. I’m also a grownup.’_

_The two parents laughed at their daughter’s sass. Her mother spoke first, ’Quite right you are, my darling.’_

_‘But this particular issue is not for you. It’s silly really. Come one let’s get you to bed, cara mia. Say goodnight to Mama.’_

_‘In Greek,’ Y/N’s mother added with a grin._

_Y/N scrunched her little face before finally saying, ‘Kali… nikta?’_

_‘Very good,’ he mother praised._

_The two parent shared a final look that Y/N could not interpret as her father picked her up and carried her to her room._

_He placed her down on her bed with an exaggerated “ooff” that made his daughter giggle. ‘Alright,’ he pulled the duvet over his daughter and sat next to her on the bed, stroking her cheek._

_‘Are you and Mama going to be okay?’_

_‘Of course we are!’ Her father said. He glanced at his daughter’s bedside table and picked up a small figurine of a Roman general. ‘Who is this?’_

_‘This is Marc Anthony,’ Y/N explained. ‘Mama just showed me the opera about him and Cleopatra.’_

_‘Good,’ her father nodded along his daughters story. ‘Well… Salve!’ He saluted the figurine and placed it back down on the bedside table. ‘And how did good roman children say goodnight to their fathers in Ancient Rome?’_

_‘Bonum nocte.’ She stated proudly and her father flicked her nose playfully._

_‘Who gave you permission to be so smart?!’_

_‘You did!’_

_Y/N’s father feigned a gasp. ‘My! I certainly did! Okay, go to sleep, cara mia. And tomorrow we’ll go to the park. Good?’_

_‘Good.’_

_The argument between her parents was never brought up again and Y/N forgot to ask. And even when she remembered it, she wasn’t sure if she should inquire some more about what the two were fighting about. Somebody had upset her mother which made Y/N upset as well. She didn’t like seeing her Mama cry and she wanted to kick whoever made her cry in the shin._

_Several years passed. Y/N was in a private college in Milan. Her parents wanted only the best for her, of course. Like any other parent. She studied with the children of diplomats and nobility. That’s where she met César Gaviria (affectionately named Cesare by the girl herself) an exchange student from Colombia who became one of Y/N’s closest friends._

_Y/N was sitting on a bench in front of her college, eating a sandwich her Mama had made for her. She was looking at the cars passing by, waiting for the car of her parents to appear in the distance. They were going to pick her up and take her to see a movie._

_After the twentieth minute when the car wouldn’t appear. Y/N grew worried. Did her parents forget her? They couldn’t have! There had to be an explanation._

_She sighed and got up from the bench and put her hands in the pockets of her coat. This was stupid! They were going to be late for the film!_

_Y/N plopped down on the bench again and waited._

_Suddenly, a black car pulled in front of the college. The first person to walk out was her family’s butler, Roberto. He looked distressed. Something was wrong._

_As Roberto drew closer, Y/N noted the ash along the shoulders and lapels of his long black coat. Which was odd, because Roberto was the epitome of cleanliness. He was tidy. Now even his styled hair was out of place._

_‘Roberto, what is going on?’_

_The butler knelt in front of her, his eyes full of tears. Something was really, really wrong. But before he could say anything, two men in suits came out from the car and addressed Y/N by her full name._

_Roberto stood up in silence._

_‘What is going on?’ Y/N asked the two strange men._

_‘Miss Y/L/N, I’m Detective Inspector Rossi and this is my colleague, Inspector Amadei. We’re very sorry to say that your parents died in a car explosion this morning.’_

_Y/N looked between the two inspectors and Roberto who appeared defeated._

_‘No.’ Y/N said under her breath. ‘No. Roberto, they’re wrong. Tell them they’re wrong.’_

_‘I’m very sorry, Miss Y/N.’ Roberto sobbed._

_Y/N never cried as much as she did that day, on the ground in front of her prestigious college. With her family’s butler’s arms wrapped around her and the two investigators who looked on in silence. The tears just wouldn’t stop. She didn’t want them to stop. She’d lost her parents._

_The investigators then took her back to her home and explained everything. They explained how her mother had been the target of the aggressive attention of a high ranking member of the mafia. He had given her little “gifts” of his appreciation. Then the bastard had tried assaulting her and after years of her mother holding back her father from confronting the mafioso, she’d failed and her father did what only the bravest (or stupidest) men in Italy would do — stand up to the mafia. And suddenly everything clicked into place. That night, years ago, when her parents were arguing, she was probably trying to stop him from going after the man for fear that her husband would lose his life. Everything was clearer now. But her parents were gone. Y/N listened to the two investigators in silence. The tears didn’t stop even then._

_She couldn’t stop crying at the funeral as well. But at this point it was only the tears wetting her cheeks. Her voice had completely given out. Roberto was on her right and her godmother — Alba, who’d flown in from the US, was holding her left hand. After the funeral, Y/N left Italy. And in the years that followed, she only returned a handful of times to perform or see the ageing Roberto. But never lingered in the place that brought on so much torment._

* * *

Y/N slowly pushed herself off the wall and staggered towards the wings. She felt lightheaded. She grabbed the clasp of necklace and removed like it was burning. She flung it on top of one of the props tables and took a deep breath to try and compose herself.

Rivera was doing the same thing the mafioso was doing to her mother. Little “gifts” of appreciation. She felt bile rising in her throat. She had to calm down. She wanted to run and hide in her dressing room. Or even call Javier.

Javier. 

What if Rivera found out about Javier? What if he did something terrible to him? What if Javier lost his life because of Y/N.

The sick feeling in her throat stopped but now she felt cold to the core. All she could see before her eyes was the sight of Javier, with a bullet hole in his forehead, the forehead she’d kissed many times over the past few days. Or several holes in his chest. His beautiful brown eyes staring without seeing into the sky. His arms spread wide. Blood seeping into the ground, pooling around his lifeless body.

Y/N could swear she could feel hear heart stop for a second at the grim thoughts that invaded her mind. She couldn’t let it happen. She couldn’t let Rivera touch Javier. Her Javier. The man who was now — as sure as the day and the night — imbedded into her heart and mind.

So she swore to herself; if something terrible were to happen before the DEA could capture Rivera, if that bastard found out about Javier, she would give her life to save his. The man she had completely fallen in love with.


	7. Chapter 7

Javier was lounging on the sofa in his apartment with a cigarette in his mouth when his satellite phone rang. He put the cigarette stub in his almost empty ashtray, thinking how much he’d cut down on smoking over the last few days. 

He picked up the phone, hearing Steve’s voice on the other side. ‘Hey, man. I got someone here who wanted to talk to you.’

‘Javier.’ Y/N spoke his name into the receiver softly and he could feel a happy little flutter in his chest at the way she said his name — small and gentle. He heard Steve in the background, saying he was gonna give them some privacy and walking away from the phone.

‘Hey, cariño.’

‘Hey.’ Y/N cleared her throat. ‘Sorry, I know it’s probably late and all that—‘

‘Not at all, what’s going on? Everything alright? Why didn’t you call me from your landline?’

‘Oh, Steve here said it would be safer if I use his phone.’

Javier could sense the anxiety radiating through the line. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘No, no, nothing’s—’ Y/N sighed.

‘Has Rivera done something to you?’

‘No! I had a stressful day, that’s all. I think the whole reality of the situation is getting to me a little bit.’

‘Well’ Javier rubbed the back of his neck, thinking of an appropriate response. ‘I know it may seem like a really tough situation. But I promise you, after Friday, it’ll change. It’s gonna be okay, Y/N.’

She gulped, ‘You’re right.’

‘Hey, from a professional standpoint, you’re the bravest civilian informant we’ve had so far.’

‘Ha!’ Y/N seemed to brighten up. ‘I’m sure you say that to all your informants.’

Javier chuckled at the corny remark, but replied ‘Only to the ones that matter.’

He knew he was stepping into unknown territory and if he could judge anything by the brief silence on the other line, he might’ve stepped too far.

‘Javier.’

‘Y/N.’

He could hear her breathing and wished he could be there, ease her uncertainty in any way he could. If Messina hadn’t insisted on him and Steve switching as to not draw attention (and to prevent Javier from having intercourse with an important informal, which was a little too late), he would’ve told his partner to go home to Connie. Javier would’ve then driven straight to Y/N’s apartment to be with her in any capacity that she needed him in.

‘Javier, I think—‘ Y/N stopped for a brief moment and Javier didn’t know why but he was holding his breath in anticipation. ‘I think I’m gonna go to bed now. It’s been a really tiring day.’

‘I understand,’ he replied and smiled to himself at the thought of her, with the Queen t-shirt, tangled in white sheets. Suddenly, an idea came to mind. ‘Hey, Y/N?’

‘Yes?’

‘Er, Steve, his wife and I eat out every Thursday. It’s a sort of tradition we have.’ Javier explained. ‘I was wondering if you’d like to join?’

‘I would love to.’ Javier could swear he could hear the smile in her voice.

‘Great.’ He smiled too. ‘Well, I’ll leave you for now. Get some rest and don’t worry. When we catch the bastard, you’ll have nothing to worry about. You’ll be safe, like I promised.’

‘Like you promised,’ Y/N echoed his words. ‘Goodnight, Javier.’

‘Goodnight, cariño.’

* * *

The days rolled by like hours. Messina allowed Steve to switch back with Javier so the former could go home to his wife and child. Before letting Javier leave the embassy though, she asked him not to allow his emotions cloud his better judgement. When he was about to argue, she stopped him and explained that she was fully aware that there was probably more than professional feelings between him and Y/N. In the end, she wanted to know that her agents would always put work first; after all their main mission was not to concern themselves with the woman herself but with the man who would bring them closer to Escobar. 

Javier found it meaningless to argue with his boss and only nodded to end their brief conversation. He knew what his job entailed, he knew what was most important at the end of the day. But he would be damned if he let a single hair fall from Y/N’s hair in the process. Messina was wrong. Rivera might’ve been the important link in the chain of capturing Escobar, but Y/N’s life was not to be traded with. Javier wasn’t going to allow her getting hurt.

The last several nights had been spent at the bottom of a bottle and at the end of a cigarette, trying to tune out the anxious voice in his head reminding him of his many fuck ups. His own mind tortured him with visions of Y/N in a puddle of her own blood, with unseeing eyes and lips that would never move again. Javier couldn’t let it happen, not to her. Over the last few days, Y/N had become such a pivotal part of his life which scared and delighted him. How could a person fall for another so quickly? Like it was as easy as breathing. Loving Y/N was just like taking a huge gulp of fresh mountain air after lifetime stuck in a toxic fog. 

Javier greeted the doorman as he casually walked in Y/N’s building. He stated the number of the apartment and the name of the person he was visiting. The doorman made a quick call to Y/N’s apartment to let her know she had a visitor. The elder man nodded to the answer he received over the landline while giving Javier permission to go.

‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you live in the most secure building in all Colombia.’ Javier told Y/N when she opened the door for him. She chuckled and pulled him in by the lapels of his lather jacket. She kissed him, sighing into Javier’s mouth, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

‘Mmm, this building is a presidential residence. It has security cameras and everything.’

Javier interjected, ‘Still.’ He put his hands on her hips. ‘Not the safest place.’

‘But I’ll have you here right?’ Y/N teased. ‘You’re here to protect me.’

‘Yes, I am, ma’am.’ Javier replied through a smirk.

‘Ma’am? I like the sound of that. Ma’am.’ 

Javier laughed at the way she attempted to mimic his tone and Texan accent. He kissed her one last time before asking, ‘You ready to go to dinner?’

‘I’m starving, so yes. Lead the way, Mr. Protector.’

The restaurant they went to this time was a different one. This time in a more popular part of Bogotá so naturally it bustled with people from different parts of the city. It was busy but at the same time not overcrowded. The sitting area for patrons formed a semi-circle around a clearing which led to a small stage with a live band. The band played anything from tango to blues. A few couples here and there danced.

Javier led Y/N between the tables, with a gentle hand on the small of her back. He pointed to a table not too far away where Steve and Connie were already seated side by side. Connie saw them first and waved excitedly.

‘Oh, hi!’ She got up to hug Y/N who hugged her back. ‘It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve been dying to have another girl on these nights.’

‘Then I’m your saviour.’ Y/N joked. Javier offered to pull her seat for her and she smiled at him, mouthing a quick thank you. ’It’s nice to meet you too, Connie. Steve has told me so much about you. Only the good things, of course.’

‘Well, that would suggest there are bad things as well.’ Connie playfully squinted her eyes at her husband. ‘Anything you’d like to say, Murphy?’

Steve laughed. ‘Nothing that would make me love you any less, Connie.’

‘You two are disgusting!’ Javier pretended to gag at their antics. ‘Get a fucking room.’

‘Oh, shush, old man.’ Y/N slapped his biceps.

Javier smirked and leaned in to whisper in her ear. ‘I’ll show you what this old man can do later.’ To make his point, he ran his hand along the inside of Y/N’s thigh. Her nostrils flared as she took a deep inhale and grinned, biting her bottom lip. 

‘I hope so.’

The four of them chatted happily as the waiter came along to get their orders. Steve and Javier had a brief discussion about work without much detail or speaking too loudly as to not draw unwanted attention. Connie stopped them before they could continue and reminded them that the cardinal rule of those outings was to not talk about work. She was more interested about Y/N’s presence there. Her and Steve. Javier had never invited any woman to their weekly dinners. They Murphys had tried bringing someone along at the beginning, trying to see if the fish would bite, so-to-say. They failed and never tried to force Javier into the dating life. Now, however, something was completely changed. 

‘So how long have you been an opera singer?’ Connie asked.

‘I thought there was a “no shop talk” policy here?’ Steve protested.

Connie scoffed at him. ‘Hers is interesting.’

‘Well, I started training when I was about 5. So it’s been a while.’ Y/N explained. 

‘You were 5!’

Y/N nodded at Connie. ‘First, I was in a choir at the Duomo in Milan. I was 8 when I actually started training to be an opera singer. Didn’t start working until I was 18.’

‘Fascinating!’ Connie said. ‘I’m so happy they got to be around someone who’s got some actual culture.’ She pointed to Steve and Javier.

‘Hey,’ Javier protested. ‘We’re cultured!’

‘Your idea of culture, Peña, is something else.’ She told him before turning back to Y/N. ‘They don’t even know what _Pride and Prejudice_ is.’

Y/N looked at Javier with feigned astonishment. ‘I’m appalled, Agent Peña!’

The hand that Javier had kept on her thigh squeezed lightly and Y/N grinned. She winked at him before resuming her conversation with Connie. The two were instant best friends, Connie asking Y/N to give her a call after the whole ugly business was done with so they could have a girl’s night. 

Halfway through dinner the band started playing a Colombian ballad and many couples joined the dance floor. It seemed like a good moment to ask, ‘Do you want to dance?’

Y/N turned to him in mild surprise, but smiled nonetheless. ‘Would love to.’

Javier took her hand in his and guided her to the clearing where he spun her around and pulled her close to his chest, which earned him a soft giggle from Y/N. Javier held up her hand in his while his other fell securely on the small of her back again. The two swayed to the rhythm of the song, their surrounding world disappearing in a blur of warm light and colour. Unbeknownst to the two, Steve and Connie watched them for a brief moment and bumped fists. 

‘My, my,’ Y/N murmured, her warm breath fanning over Javier’s parted lips. ‘You surprise me every time, Agent Peña. Any other talents I should be aware of?’

‘I like to keep them for special moments.’ He dipped her which made Y/N giggle again. He pulled her back up again and pressed his forehead to hers. Warmth enveloped the two. ‘So that I can impress.’

‘You will always impress me, Agent.’

‘I hope that’s true.’ Javier closed his eyes and the hand that was holding Y/N’s brought it closer to his shoulder. Y/N put her arms over his shoulders while Javier wrapped his around her waist. God, if she could feel the thumping of his heart through his chest! 

‘It is.’ She bumped her nose against his, beckoning him to kiss her and he did. Softly. Just barely pressing his lips to her, just a flutter. It meant so much. He was becoming a different man with her, thanks to her. Javier acknowledged that thought with another peck to Y/N’s lips.

When the song ended so did their little pocket of bliss. Y/N led Javier back to their table with a content little smile that made his heart swell.

‘You guys wanna go back to our place for drinks?’ Steve asked the pair when they were back.

‘Sure.’ Javier took out his wallet and slapped a few banknotes on the table, Steve adding to it and the four started walking out of the restaurant. Steve was first with Connie, then Y/N how was trailed by Javier. All of a sudden, a lanky and profusely sweating guy in a mustard yellow shirt bumped into Y/N. He raked his eyes over her and smirked to himself.

‘ _Heya, mamacita, you’re looking like a meal I’d rather eat._ ’

‘ _Not interested._ ’ Y/N tried to walk past him but Sweaty dude grabbed her upper arm.

‘ _Come on, mamacita!_ ’

Javier pushed him back without causing any disturbance to any other patrons and stared him down. The guy dropped Y/N’s arm. ’ _She said she’s not interested. I suggest you back the fuck off._ ’

Y/N put her hand on Javier’s chest and whispered, ‘Javi, calm down. Let’s go.’

Sweaty dude gave them both an odd look, smirking again and bid them goodbye in a sickly sweet voice. Javier led Y/N out of the restaurant and only felt like he could relax his muscles when him and her were in the back of Steve’s jeep. Y/N watched him, but Javier was focused on the view outside of his window. Steve and Connie were apparently oblivious to the accident and were singing along to the rock song that was playing over the radio. Y/N scooted over to Javier and put a gentle hand on his knee. Javier looked back at her. She raised her eyebrows at him and asked, ‘You okay there?’

Javier huffed, ‘I should be the one asking you that.’

‘I’m okay.’

‘Then I’m okay, too.’ He smiled at her. ‘Wanted to rip that guy’s arm clean off though.’

Y/N snickered, ‘I wouldn’t have blamed you, but you would’ve caused a scene.’

‘Javier? Cause a scene?’ Steve overheard and spoke up from the driver’s seat. ‘That’s not like him at all.’

‘You shut the fuck up and watch the road.’ Javier rolled his eyes at his friend’s sarcastic remark.

Connie turned in her seat and gave Y/N a worried look. ‘Everything good?’

‘Yeah,’ Y/N assured her, ‘just some asshole trying to put his hands on me. Javi,’ He loved that she’d started calling him by his shortened nickname ‘got a little heated.’

Y/N moved her eyes back on him and he completely relaxed under her calm gaze. How the fuck was she able to do that? 

* * *

Drinks at the Murphys was a short affair. Connie insisted that she show Y/N Olivia, who was fast asleep and oblivious to the world around her tiny crib. While the two women were in the the bedroom, Steve and Javier opened a couple of beers.

‘Haven’t seen you like this with another woman,’ Steve mused, clinking his bottle with Javier’s. ‘It’s weird, I’m not gonna lie. You look… in love.’

Javier sighed and stared at his friend with a knowing look.

‘Holy shit!’

Javier took a long sip from his beer and smacked his lips when he gulped down the tangy liquid. 

‘Javier Peña’s in love… with one woman.’

‘Can you keep it down?’ Javier shushed. ‘I’m still figuring this shit out.’

‘There’s not much to figure out. Trust me, I fell in love with Connie in a week. That shit works fast. Especially when the other person reciprocates.’

‘Yeah,’ Javier replied, ‘but I can’t be certain Y/N does.’

Steve huffed and rolled his eyes, ‘Christ! You’re almost endearing. Ask her, you idiot! I’m 100% sure she does judging by how she acts around you.’

‘There’s something more important at the moment, okay! Messina said—‘

‘Don’t tell me you’re gonna start listening to Messina now!’

‘When Y/N’s life is in danger, I have to.’ Javier said simply. ‘You’re right, I am… what I am… with her. I can’t let that get in the way of me protecting her life.’

‘The premiere is tomorrow,’ Steve spoke up, ‘If Rivera doesn’t magically decide he won’t attend — which I doubt, we’ll catch the bastard and Y/N will be safe.’

Javier groaned and rubbed his face. ‘I feel so fucking weird.’

‘That’s what love does to a man, brother. Should be considered a fucking drug if you ask me.’

‘What should be considered a drug?’ Connie suddenly appeared from the bedroom with Y/N in toe. Steve lifted his arm so his wife could sit next to him, close to his side. Y/N sat next to Javier who passed her a bottle of beer from the box near his feet.

‘Nothing, Javi and I were having a manly discussion.’

Connie and Y/N shared a look and both pretended to gag. ‘Men,’ they both groaned through unadulterated laughter. 

Javier couldn’t wait to have Y/N in his apartment. The two said goodbye to Steve and Connie, Javier leading Y/N out of into the corridor and walking across to his door. He fished out his key and let Y/N walk in first.

‘You’re place is really nice.’ She said once in his living room. Her hands were clasped behind her back just like she did during their walk in the park. Javier smiled at the sight. Y/N looked back at him and grinned. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ He assured her. ‘Do you want anything to drink?’

Y/N plopped down on his couch, crossing her legs and blinked slowly. ‘Mm, not really.’ She turned her head to the side, looking curiously at him. Javier took off his jacket which made Y/N smirk. She got up from the couch and walked towards him. She took the jacket in her hands, throwing it on a nearby chair. She slowly backed Javier into the wall behind him with her hands on his lower stomach. 

Javier let out a shaky breath as Y/N let one hand rise up his chest and cup his jaw, inching his face to hers. The two wasted no time in capturing the other’s lips. Javier took Y/N’s face in his hands, deepening the kiss. He sucked in a surprised breath, when he he felt Y/N’s free hand palm his steadily growing bulge through the material of his jeans. He wanted to pick her up and throw her down on the couch and not let her get up until she’d come on his tongue, on his fingers, and on his cock a few times at least. 

Before he could act up on his desires, Y/N started unbuckling his belt and undoing the button on his jeans while her tongue deftly slid inside his mouth, crashing against Javier’s own. She gave his lips a last kiss and sank down on her knees in front of him, pulling his cock out of his briefs. 

Javier looked down only to find Y/N gazing at him through her eyelashes, her mouth closing in on the head of his cock until her lips enveloped themselves around the sensitive head. This wasn’t the first time she’d sucked him off but it certainly still managed to surprise him. 

His brain short-circuited when Y/N licked the slit at the very top of his cock, her saliva mixing with his pre-cum. Javier groaned, bucking his hips forward, the tip of his cock hitting against the back of Y/N’s throat. She gagged and put one hand on his upper hip as to hold him still, thumbs tucked in, while the other hand went to the base of his shaft. She sucked at the tip as her fingers moved up and down to pleasure Javier. 

He wasn’t embarrassed by the sounds she drew out of him, they were desperate but so was he. Y/N’s tongue slid against the underside of his cock, masterfully pressing against the right places that made Javier’s eyes roll to the back of his head. He grabbed Y/N’s hair, pulling it which he’d remembered was a think she enjoyed. The moan that she made vibrated against his cock and to top that she removed her hand from his hip so she could take his balls, fondling them. 

Javier whimpered, ‘Cariño, ‘m not gonna— can’t hold it if you keep doing that.’

Y/N, however, ignored his warning and became sucking him off with a bit more speed, her hand at the base moving faster. Javier cursed, his head digging into the hard wall like he wanted it to crash clean through it. 

His orgasm came like a wave that overflowed all of his senses. He gripped Y/N’s hair, his hips buckling again and he emptied himself inside her wanting mouth. Javier looked down again, laughing breathlessly. ‘You’re incredible, cariño.’

Y/N slowly stood up on shaky legs and Javier could swear that the sound of her swallowing his cum went straight back to his softening cock. She licked her lips and Javier bent down to capture them in his own. He wanted her so bad, in every way he could have her. 

Javier gripped her hips, yanking her off the grown and carried her to the couch. He laid her there, gently. He made sure she was settled against the cushions comfortably before moving down her body, kissing, licking and biting. It would only be proper if he returned the favour. 

Javier’s fingers found their way up Y/N’s trembling inner thigh and between her folds, gathering the slick. He groaned at the feeling of how wet she was a laid one final kiss to her stomach before his mouth joined his hand at Y/N’s entrance. 

By now he knew where she liked his tongue, how to move his fingers inside her as to bring her to her breaking point. She spread her legs as best as she could given the small space on the sofa and lifted one, putting it over Javier’s shoulder. 

‘Oh, Javi!’ 

Javier groaned as his tongue lapped at her clit, three fingers pumping in and out of her pussy. ‘Does it feel good, cariño.’

‘Ye-AH!’ Her answer formed into a yelp as he sucked the bundle of nerves. ‘Feels so good, Javi! I’m gonna- Javi, I’m gonna—‘

‘Come for me, cariño. Come on my tongue.’

Y/N pushed her hands into the fabric of the couch, her mouth producing the sweetest of noises as she squirted all over Javier’s lips and chin. She gasped at the sight, starting to apologise. Javier stopped her, gathering the juices that had slithered down his chin with a finger and sucked it clean. He intended to clean the remnants from Y/N’s pussy, he made one quick swipe with his tongue over her clit and Y/N’s entire body convulsed.

‘Javi, I need you.’ She begged. ‘Please, baby.’

Javier wasted no time in climbing back on top to kiss Y/N, letting her taste herself on his tongue. His hands gripped her hips, lifting her legs and nudged her to wrap them around his waist. She complied, cupping his face between her delicate hands and deepening the kiss as much as she could. 

Javier reached down to pump his cock a couple of times before lining it with Y/N’s entrance. With one long, slow movement he pushed in, seating himself inside Y/N. Javier sighed into her mouth at the sensation. He was never going to grow tired of the feeling.

He stayed like this for a little bit, opting to kiss Y/N and bask in the feeling of her walls gripping his hard cock. 

_I love you._

‘Javi.’ Y/N whimpered. Javier pressed his forehead against hers like the many times he’d done before.

_I love you._

He took one of Y/N’s hands in his own, interlocking their fingers. He pressed the fingers of his other hand on her hipbone. And then he started moving…

Unlike many other times they’d had sex over the last several days, this time it felt different. Javier rocked his hips slowly, gently. He gulped down every sound that escaped Y/N’s mouth. He swallowed her moans and high-pitched whimpers.

‘Javi,’ Y/N gasped, eyes shut, ‘I l- OH! Oh right there! Right there, Javi! Fuck!’

She used her free hand to slide it down between their bodies and rub her clit while Javier continued to move inside her. He groaned, ‘That’s right, cariño. You look so beautiful when you come on my cock. Can you come one more time for me, baby? Come for me!’

Y/N wailed as she reached her high for a second time, he hand leaving her clit to hold onto the back of Javier’s neck. He nails sank into the flesh and she dragged them down, across his back.

Javier growled and planted his face in the crook of her neck, panting hard. His balls tightened, the burning heat in his abdomen reached a boiling point and he came deep inside his lover’s body. She whimpered at the sensation and whispered soft praises in his ear. 

_I love you, Y/N._

The words were there. Right at the tip of his tongue. He wanted to whisper them, to scream them, to bite them into Y/N’s skin.

Javier lifted his head and gazed down at the woman underneath his body. A haze had fallen over his eyes and in the dim lighting of his shitty apartment, Y/N seemed to glow. A crystal clear pond in a dark forest. He caressed her face, completely lost in his thought. 

Y/N caught his hand as it reached her left cheek and just held it there, her eyes locked on Javier’s. She slowly let her eyes close shut, leaning against Javier’s warm touch. He let his forehead fall forward slowly until it was once more pressed against Y/N’s.

‘Javier.’ Y/N spoke after what felt like an eternity in silence.

‘Yes?’

She took a deep breath and looked up at him with a worried gaze. ‘Whatever happens tomorrow—‘

‘Y/N?’

‘No, let me finish.’ She stopped him with a finger to his lips. ‘Whatever happens tomorrow… I want you to be careful. Okay? I know it’s silly, but I- I would hate myself if anything were to happen to you.’

‘Hey, hey, shh…’ Javier sat up and pulled her in his lap, as close to him as physically possible. He rubbed her back to calm her rapid breathing as Y/N hugged him over the shoulders, her nose pressed into the side of his neck.

‘I’m just scared.’

‘I know,’ he cooed, running a soothing hand over her head, fingers tangling in her hair.

Y/N pulled back and held his face in her hands, her eyes flickering between Javier’s. ‘I’m… more scared for you, because I- I care for you. Very much. And it’s ridiculous, I know. I’ve known you for such a short time and yet—‘

‘I understand,’ Javier murmured. ‘I care for you too.’

Y/N’s eyes glossed over with tears, of joy or of sadness. Javier pulled her back in his embrace.

‘I will do anything I can to protect you.’ Y/N’s promise made Javier chuckle lightly and he pulled away, taking his time to wipe away the tears that had strayed down her beautiful cheeks.

‘I thought I was the one who was supposed to protect you.’

Y/N shook her head with a half-smile, playfully slapping his chest. ‘Doesn’t matter. I’ll protect you, too.’ She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Just… promise me that if anything goes sideways, you won’t endanger yourself to help me.’

‘Cariño, I won’t let Rivera—‘

‘Shh, I know.’ Y/N stopped him mid sentence. ‘And I don’t think he’ll do anything. But we can never be sure what that man could attempt. So if by any horrible chance something goes wrong — I beg you, don’t risk your life. I can’t imagine what I’ll do if you were hurt.’

In that moment, when he looked deep into her eyes, Javier knew what he felt for her had found reflection in her own feelings. The sincerity in her gaze and voice did not lie. He wanted to tell Y/N how he didn’t care if a thousand bullets were fired in his way as long as she was safe and sound, but decided against that. Last thing he wanted in that precious moment was to upset her. He shortened the distance between their faces and kissed her softly. He tried to convey all the emotions that erupted in his body through that one simple kiss. 

The two stayed, entangled like this for some time until Javier picked up Y/N from the sofa and slowly walked towards his bedroom. Once there, he laid her down underneath the duvet and wrapped her up with his body. Y/N slowly dozed off as Javier gently brushed his fingers through her hair. His own sleepiness came upon him so he pulled Y/N’s body closer to his and whispered ‘I love you’ as the room around him slowly faded into darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

Y/N seemed to float like a ghost for the entirety of her day. She did her best during the quick rehearsal they had in the afternoon, but it was glaringly obvious her heart was not in it. The director had even pulled her to the side to ask if she was going to be able to perform. Y/N assured him that everything was fine, stating that ‘It’s just nerves since the president is going to be here’. Thankfully, the lie seemed to pass and the director didn’t bring up her low mood a second time. 

Today was supposed to be a good day, Y/N thought to herself with sadness. She loved performing, she was never scared of that. She’d sang in front of hundreds and hundreds. But the reality of the situation seemed to hit harder the closer she got to the actual performance. A day which was supposed to feel like the finale to a job well done, now seemed more like Judgement day.

And at the end of the walk she’d had to walk was unknown.

On the outside Y/N looked absolutely fantastic. Her dress fitted well, her hair was styled and her make-up was done to perfection. Every cast and crew member had taken time to sneak in a peak in her dressing room or stop her backstage to compliment her and wish her “break a leg”. Break a leg. She wish she had. Then this nightmare wouldn’t have been happening.

She stared at her reflection and was disgusted with herself when the woman that stared back was not her usual confident self, but a sad little orphan girl. She closed her eyes shut and breathed in. She had to be brave. She had to do her part in this play of death and danger. She had to do it to help Javier.

Javier.

_That morning, Y/N woke up much sooner than him. The light that flooded the bedroom was still the bluish light that preceded sunrise. A quick look at the bedside alarm clock had showed that it was barely after 5AM. Y/N couldn’t sleep anymore so she slowly inched away from her lover’s warm embrace and got up to find her clothes._

_Once fully dressed, she found an old envelope that she could write on and left a quick message for Javier._

> **_“Am going home to shower. Will see you tonight. Yours, Y/N”_ **

_She put the note on his bedside table and took a moment to just admire him, completely relaxed in his sleep. How beautiful he was._

_Y/N carefully bent down and placed a kiss on top of his lips. She gave him one last look and with a heavy heart left._

_She managed to get a cab back to her place where upon arrival, upon finally standing behind the closed door to her apartment, she collapsed on the floor and cried. She couldn’t stop crying even in the shower, the warm water washing away the salty tears. Why did she feel like she was preparing for an execution?_

An hour left until the start of the premiere. 

Y/N was glad that Rivera didn’t come to bother her and make her even more nervous than she already was. The last moments she had before this whole ordeal was going to be behind her, she wanted for herself to be with her thoughts. 

She gave herself one last once over in the mirror and pushed her shoulders back. She could do this. She was going to get through it and in a few hours, when Rivera was in handcuffs and being taken away by the DEA, she was going to laugh at how stupid she was to worry.

‘ _Chiquita!_ ’ Doña Marina knocked on her dressing room door, before Y/N had the time to walk out into the corridor. She smiled at the old woman and beckoned her in. 

‘ _Here to give me one last look?_ ’ Y/N joked. ‘ _You’ve done a good job with the dress and everything._ ’

Doña Marina scoffed and waved a hand dismissively, ‘ _Of course I have, but what you wear won’t matter as long as this voice right here does what it does best._ ’ She pointed to Y/N’s throat. ‘ _Oh, and that reminds me!_ ’ She fished out a box from the large pocket in her apron and Y/N’s blood ran cold once more. Oh, how she wished she didn’t have to see it again!

‘ _You almost lost this, chiquita!_ ’ She tutted while opening the box and taking out the Rivera’s necklace. ‘ _Never disrespect a present. Especially from a wonderful gentleman like Señor Rivera._ ’ Doña Marina handed the necklace to Y/N. She found herself unable to refuse it and put it around her neck with a tight smile. Was this to be the noose for her execution?

‘ _Thank you, Doña Marina._ ’ Y/N nodded in the older woman’s direction and forced her face to contort in a feigned happy expression that made her cheeks hurt. ‘ _I should get going now._ ’

‘ _Oh, yes, yes._ ’ Doña Marina agreed and ushered her out of the room and towards the wings of the stage. ‘ _Hope your good man is here to watch you, chiquita! I’m sure he’ll be entranced!_ ’

Y/N almost started crying again.

* * *

Javier couldn’t sit down throughout the day. 

First, he woke up to a cold bed and a note as the only sign Y/N had actually been there and it wasn’t his lovesick imagination playing tricks on his mind. Then he showered, drank coffee, smoked cigarette after cigarette and did anything to pass the time. But for some reason the hands of the clock would barely move whenever he glared at them.

Steve offered to drive the two of them to the embassy to get their final orders before tonight. 

Messina had a file prepared for them, detailing the already agreed upon strategy for the operation. Steve was going to stand outside the theatre with a small team of Search Bloc soldiers, ready to capture Rivera if he tried to make a run for it. Javier was going to join the president in his box as his body guard, but prime task was to keep an eye on Rivera who — according to information, given to them by Y/N and confirmed by theatre staff — was going to sit in the box, opposite the president’s. 

Javier could barely register any other information which Steve noted and when the two were out of earshot of Messina, he pulled his friend aside.

‘Javi, you need to get your head in the fucking game.’

‘I know, I know.’ Javier rubbed his temples in exasperation. ‘Do you think I don’t fucking know!’

The two ignored the strange look they received from an agent passing by and continued their discussion in hushed tones. 

‘I understand you’re worried about Y/N—‘

‘That doesn’t begin to cut it, Steve. If Connie was in her place, how would’ve you felt?’

Steve pulled back and pondered over the question, but the answer was clear. ‘I would’ve stressed over it like you do.’

‘I’ll be fine. Once we get to the theatre, I’ll be too focused on busting the bastard to pay attention to nerves or anything.’

Javier knew he wasn’t going to be completely focused, he knew that once he laid eyes on Y/N, it’d be hard to tear them off of her. But he had a job to do and whether he liked it or not, Messina’s warning that this operation had to come first before any personal attachments brought him to reality like a cold shower. 

A few minutes were left before the start of the premiere. 

Javier was dressed in a black suit to fit the image of a bodyguard. He’d been given an earpiece that transmitted feed from Steve and the team outside the opera directly to him. Javier was looking around the grand hall that looked so much different than the last time he’d been there. The place was loud with chatter and laughter and it was all driving him insane. 

Javier was in the same box he was the first evening he came to watch Y/N rehearse. Although this time, and given the important figure that would be seated there that night, the box was decorated with bouquets of white flowers and sachets with the Colombian flag.

Once president Gaviria and his wife entered the box and took their seats, the audience got on their feet to applaud him. He smiled a politician’s smile and waved at them. He then helped his wife into her chair before sitting in his own.

President Gaviria turned towards Javier in his chair and calmly spoke. ‘ _I believe things will go to plan, don’t you think?_ ’

‘ _Mr President, my line of work has taught me that it’s bad luck to give a mission an outcome before it actually comes._ ’

‘ _Of course, of course,_ ’ Gaviria smiled brightly. ‘ _Y/N is something, is she not?_ ’

Javier stared at the other man. ‘ _I think so, yes._ ’

‘ _She is also a strong woman. Whatever happens, you can trust in the strength of her character._ ’

Javier had no words of reply to the president who simply turned back around in his seat, took his wife’s hand in his as the two watched the orchestra shuffle in the pit.

Javier’s eyes scanned the crowd a few more times until his eyes finally found their target. Rivera. The old dandy had a smug look on his face as he took a seat in his box. He looked down at the people bellow, seemingly celebrating his superiority. He too scanned the crowd and stopped only when his eyes reached the president’s box.

Javier and Rivera stared down one another like to wolves ready to pounce. 

Rivera gave him a sick grin which made Javier uneasy, but before he could do anything else, the lights in the concert hall dimmed. The conductor walked to his spot under the applause of both orchestra and audience and soon after the music began, low and tense.

The first scene was of some kind of party and Javier’s heart raced out of his chest when he spotted Y/N sitting on an ottoman chair, dressed in a beautiful red dress, wearing a gaudy necklace that glared under the stage light. Y/N was waving a fan close to her breast, smiling at the other cast members who started singing. 

‘ _The first scene is where Violetta meets Alfredo, her lover._ ’ Gaviria explained to him and Javier felt bad he hadn’t asked Y/N before. He hoped she wasn’t insulted by it; it wasn’t lack of interest, certainly. Javier promised himself he was going to sit her down and have her walk him through the entire story once this whole ordeal was over and done. Once she was safe.

Y/N sang beautifully, earning the admiration of every person present. She sang with the choir, then a duet with the guy playing her character’s love interest and then she moved into the aria she sang the first night Javier had been there. 

And then she looked at him and oh! Javier could’ve fallen in love all over again in that moment. She looked at him with so much emotion in her eyes and it felt as if she was singing to him and only him. Much like last evening at the restaurant, when they danced. The world outside their little bubble faded and faded, until it disappeared altogether. And it was only Javier and Y/N. His Y/N.

The opera moved to the next act after the aria with the scenes and the decor changing. Gaviria turned again to Javier to give him a brief explanation of what was happening: “Violetta" began living with “Alfredo”, but she was then visited by his father who was unhappy with his son’s relationship with a woman of her reputation. The man wanted Violetta to break of her liaison to “Alfredo" for the sake of his family and then left her.

Y/N perfectly captured the emotion of a woman who was forced to abandon her love. She sat at a small desk, writing a letter and singing woefully of her heartbreak. And when “Alfredo” walked on stage to join “Violetta”, Gaviria explained, she sang a song of love and sadness.

The music crescendoed into a distressing note when Y/N neared the kneeling guy who played Alfredo, and took his face in her hands.

‘ _Amami Alfredo_ ,’ Y/N sang and her voice carried over the sound of the orchestra and into the vast concert hall. Javier felt chills over his entire body. ‘ _Amami, quant’io t’amo…_ ’

She pulled the man’s face to her chest and looked up to find Javier’s eyes. Her own eyes glistened with tears like pearls. 

‘ _Amami Alfredo, quant’io t’amo, quant’io t’amo,_ ’ she glanced back down at “Alfredo” and kissed his forehead. ‘ _Adio_.’

And she ran away into the wings.

Javier noticed he’d moved slightly forward in his moment of daze. He pressed his back against the wall of the box and let out a shaky breath.

‘ _She’s incredible, isn’t she,_ ’ Gaviria addressed his wife and Javier smiled. ‘ _Do you agree, Agent Peña?_ ’

‘ _Yes… incredible._ ’

* * *

Y/N kept to the wings, feeling much too jittery to do anything else between her appearances on-stage. So she she got a chair from one of the stage hands and waited patiently for her next cue. 

There must’ve been some higher power that gave her strength, despite the overwhelming stress she felt. She knew she had to calm down, she tried breathing techniques and counting to 10; the stress could affect poorly on her voice and the last thing she wanted was to fail the entire company. Let alone reveal to Rivera that there was something wrong.

Rivera kept looking at her in a strange, unsettling way throughout the first act. Y/N stopped paying attention to him altogether. It was difficult, the man’s eyes kept burning holes in her body and the necklace felt like it weighed a tonne, Y/N desperately wanted to remove it and stop on it until it broke into fine dust. 

But then she’d turn her eyes towards the president’s box and see Javier standing there. He looked absolutely stunning in his black suit. Y/N wondered, if fate was on her side, would he be willing to come to all of her premieres from now on. Because he certainly had a calming effect, especially in that moment. He was like a balm that soothed the burns that Rivera’s eyes left. 

Y/N got up from her chair and did her breathing exercise again, knowing that she would soon need to be on stage for the last scene of act 2. She looped her arm around her colleague who played the Baron and the two chatted in the wings, waiting for the cue. Y/N just needed to fill the time and relax by engaging in mind-numbing small talk. 

The final scene of act 2 was the party of “Violetta”s friend. Y/N moved about with the “Baron” as the choir sang and the ballet dancers performed their choreography over the songs of the Gypsy girls and the Matadors of Madrid. Then came the saddest moment in the scene when “Violetta” had to lie to “Alfredo” to save his life from the jealousy of the “Baron”. 

Y/N shook with nerves and her voice succumbed to the stress. Thankfully, by the time she felt her throat closing up, the guy who played Alfredo went into his angry aria and Y/N knew she’d have time to recuperate during the intermission. All she could do in her moment was to act out her grief which in reality wasn’t that sad, because she herself felt like she was facing a moment like that. A moment of finality.

“Alfredo” threw the money at her and she collapsed on the floor. The necklace was becoming too heavy. Why was it so heavy? Y/N promised herself that she’d rip it from herself the moment she got to her dressing room. She wanted to be rid of the fucking thing.

“Violetta” was escorted off stage right by one of the choir members and Y/N finally managed to catch her breath. She thanked the man and rushed off to her dressing room. Behind her came the thundering applause of the audience and the announcement of a 20 minute intermission.

Once inside her dressing room, Y/N collapsed onto the chair before the vanity table and held her head in her hands. She breathed slowly. In and out. In and out.

‘Come on, you stupid girl,’ she scolded herself. ‘God!’

She grabbed the clasp of the necklace and tried to undo it, but her fingers kept twitching and she failed in her first couple of attempts to remove it. Groaning in frustration, she put her face in her palms and tried her best to stay calm. She kicked her shoes of stretching her legs out underneath the vanity table, her toes cracking pleasantly after being released from the hard stage shoes.

‘Just. Calm. Down.’ She whispered to herself and counted to ten and then to twenty and then…

The door opened behind her. It was probably Doña Marina who was going to help her out of the dress. She needed to get into the white dress for the last act.

‘ _Can I get a couple more minutes, Doña Marina?_ ’ Y/N asked without lifting her head. ‘ _I just need some privacy._ ’

‘I doubt privacy is going to be the issue here,’ said Diego Rivera in a low, threatening tone. And in English at that.

Y/N’s blood froze in her veins and she looked up to see the reflection of the old man staring back at her much like how he’d stared during her performance.

Y/N got up from the chair and plastered a bright smile on her face for the wretch. ‘ _Señor Rivera, what a pleasant—_ ‘

‘Cut the theatrics, you little slut.’ Rivera hissed. He tapped his finger on the gem at the top of his cane. ‘You’re a good actress, but I’m no fool.’

‘I’m don’t—‘

River interrupted her again, but this time he grabbed the spare chair next to the door and threw it across the room. For a man of his age, he was strong. The action and the loud _BANG_ that the chair made when it collided with her wardrobe, startled Y/N and she bumped into the vanity table. The bottles of perfume and makeup on top, clattered and some fell over.

‘I don’t like being lied to, Y/N.’ Despite his burst of anger, Rivera spoke in a quiet voice. It felt much more threatening. He stared down Y/N with the eyes of a predator who was ready to attack its prey. ‘Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your lover, hm?’

Y/N hoped she’d heard wrong. She prayed she was hallucinating.

‘Agent Javier Peña.’ Rivera said the name and Y/N felt like throwing up. Her fears were slowly creeping up on her like eels. Rivera laughed coldly, emotionlessly. ’You’ve been whoring yourself for the Americans, haven’t you?’

‘Please, Señor Rivera, there must be a misunderstanding. I don’t know a man of that name.’ 

The failed lie seemed to be the final straw for the older man who crossed the distance between the two of them and grabbed her forcefully by the throat. ‘I said don’t lie to me! Filthy whore!’

Y/N desperately clawed at the hand that was wrapped around her throat. She gasped as Rivera squeezed harder.

‘Please, please!’ She begged through the tears the welled up in her eyes. 

‘Oh, you want to beg now? Huh!’ Rivera screamed in her face and Y/N shut her eyes in fear. ‘The things I have planned for you. Nobody lies to Diego Rivera without consequences.’

He let go of her neck but just as quickly he grabbed her by the upper arm and forced her out of the dressing room, the commotion causing the chair at the vanity table and a coat rack next to the door to topple to the floor.

* * *

Act 2 ended to the roar of thunderous applause. Javier followed suit. 

Now people started to move out at the announcement of a 20 minute intermission and so did Rivera, who quickly left his seat and disappeared behind the curtain to his box. Javier quickly announced that the man was on the move over the comma and Steve gave him an affirmative. Javier needed to find where Rivera was going.

‘ _Most people go to the bar during intermission._ ’ Gaviria told him. ‘ _He must be there to get a drink. Second floor._ ’

Javier thanked him and gave a quick order to the second bodyguard to stay there and watch after the president. Javier hurried out of the box and down the spiral staircase. He rushed into the main corridor. However, not knowing the inside of the theatre by heart (like Y/N did) he soon found that he was getting confused of the vague directions Gaviria gave him. 

Javier stopped an elderly couple who were heading towards the toilets and asked them if they knew where the bar was. The elder lady smiled at him and pointed him in the right way. With the information, Javier walked towards the bar with a quick step as to not draw too much attention to himself. 

Once he got to the room where the bar was, he knew it’ll take time to find Rivera in the massive crowd of people. Javier called some of the other agents who were inside the theatre to come to the second floor and help him look. It took two of them about five minutes to find their way. Javier tasked them to spread out across the room and see if they could find Rivera. Which proved harder than intended. 

Javier called in the two agents and asked them if they’d seen Rivera somewhere to which they both shook their heads. A joyful tune rang out from the speakers and a voice announced that the intermission would end in 5 minutes. 

‘Okay,’ Javier rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Go back to your positions. He’s probably back in his box. Either way he can’t exit the theatre without the Search Bloc busting his ass.’

He dismissed the two agents and hurried back to the president’s box just in time for the end of the intermission. There was an excited chatter coming from the orchestra pit that seemed to carry around the room as people waited for the final act to begin.

‘ _Did you find him?_ ’ Gaviria ask Javier once he was back.

‘ _No._ ’ Javier replied, looking at Rivera’s box, finding no trace of the man. ‘ _Is there any other place he might’ve gone?_ ’

‘ _There’s always the toilet, but a man like him would probably go to the bar._ ’

‘ _He wasn’t there._ ’ Javier’s heart hammered in his chest. Something was not right. The curtains that separated the audience from the stage fluttered as a man dressed in a beige suit walked out and asked the audience for silence.

‘ _Ladies and gentlemen,_ ’ the man spoke loudly, ‘ _we apologise for the delay, but due to, uh… technical difficulties, we shall begin with act 3 in 5 minutes. Please, remain in your seats and thank you for your patience._ ’

The man disappeared behind the thick curtain, proving Javier’s worries. Something _was_ wrong.

‘ _Mr. President, stay here._ ’ Javier said quietly to the man. ‘ _I need to go check what’s going on._ ’

Javier vaguely remembered the path to the backstage area that Y/N showed him. He needed to get to her dressing room, he needed to make sure she was alright. He made a turn, walked through a door and found the corridor he was looking for. He rushed down the narrow space until he reached the turn that led to Y/N’s room. Upon reaching the place he noticed a large group of people gathered in front of her door. 

‘ _Move!_ ’ He ordered, fishing out his badge. ‘ _DEA. Move!_ ’

He pushed through the small group and into the open room that was in disarray. Chairs were upturned, the entrance was partially blocked by a fallen over coat rack. And Y/N wasn’t there.

Javier’s breath hitched. He called for Steve over the comms.

‘Steve, Y/N’s gone. The bastard must’ve taken her. Fuck!’ He couldn’t catch his breath. He was panicking. He never panicked. ‘Did you see anything?’

‘No, nobody’s left the theatre. We have people at the staff entrance as well, they would’ve seen something.’

Javier turned to the group of people gathered at the dressing room entrance. ‘ _Is there another way out of the building? Apart from the staff entrance._ ’

‘ _There’s the back gate where the trucks offload the props._ ’ An elderly woman explained and Javier groaned. 

‘Fuck, Steve there’s a third exit.’

‘Okay, I’ll contact the team that’s surveilling Rivera’s house. If he’s there they’ll know. Meet me up front.’

Javier left the room, but stopped to thank the old woman and apologise for the disturbance. He ran back up the corridor he came through, looking for the way to the foyer. His head felt light and foggy, like he was about to pass out. He couldn’t possibly pass out now! How the fuck would that help Y/N?

He pushed on until he reached Steve who put a comforting hand on his shoulder. ‘You good?’

‘No, I’m not fucking good, Steve.’ Javier said curtly, raising his voice. ‘Did the other surveillance team answer?’

Steve gave him a worried look before answering. ‘They saw him arrive. Y/N was with him.’

‘Let’s go then.’

‘Javi,’ Steve grabbed him by the arm. ‘I can’t let you go while you’re like this. I need you to calm down.’

‘Steve, Y/N’s there. Alone. With that fucking piece of shit. She could get hurt, she could get killed.’ Javier’s entire body stilled at the thought. ‘Please, I’ll… I’ll be okay as long as I can make sure she’s okay, too.’

‘I understand.’ Steve nodded. ‘But if you rush in guns blazin’ without thinking straight, I’ll knock you out.’

‘I’ll let you try.’

* * *

Y/N was harshly pushed out of the car, her palms and knees scraping against the hard concrete ground. Her left palm started to sting as an ugly cut appeared just above her her wrist. She hissed in pain, trying to pull herself on her feet when Rivera grabbed her again and dragged her into his house. Y/N’s throat had clenched up and she could hardly gulp down the violent emotions that overcame her like a tidal wave. If she was afraid before now she was absolutely terrified. She was in the lair of the beast, with no one there to help her. Was this how she was going to die? Was she going to die?

Y/N managed to catch her reflection in a gilded mirror by the front door and found that she looked horribly bad. The tears that had started falling down her face in the car had now doubled down, destroying her make-up. The eyeliner and mascara melted like a river in spring and streamed down under her eyes forming two distinct black smudges.

Rivera dropped Y/N on the floor of his house’s foyer and circled around her. His cane tapping dangerously on the marble tiles. Y/N didn’t dare look up. She was too petrified to do so.

Somebody else walked in and exchanged a couple of words with Rivera, who bent down and pulled up Y/N by her hair, making her yelp as the sharp jolt of pain coursed through her scalp. She instinctively grabbed his hand, trying to pry it off her head.

Rivera chuckled darkly, ‘ _Look at that, Sebastian!_ ’

Y/N glanced up at the man Rivera was talking to and found the same lanky man who approached her in the restaurant the night before. She sucked in a breath, realising what had most likely happened. Oh, it was all her fault!

‘Sebastian did me a great service. And his obedience will be rewarded as it should.’ Rivera spoke through gritted teeth. ‘But what should we do with you? _Hm, what do you think Sebastian?_ _How should we punish the American whore?_ ’

The man — Sebastian — snickered, kneeling down next to Rivera. He grabbed Y/N’s jaw and forced her to look at him. His stench made her gag so she used the anger that had boiled within her and spat in his face. Her action made him gasp in disgust and Sebastian slapped her across the face. The rings on his hand cut horribly into Y/N’s skin and she felt her bottom lip tear a little. It stung but she couldn’t show them she was affected.

‘You try and touch me again and there’ll be hell to pay,’ she hissed at the two men. She had to stay strong and stay alive for as long as possible. The DEA, Javier was going to come for her. They couldn’t abandon her now, could they?

‘Oh, you think your little boyfriend will come and rescue you, is that it?’ Rivera mocked her. ‘I’m counting on it, little girl. Once he gets here, I’ll shoot his kneecaps off and make him watch as I do… well, whatever I want with you.’ Y/N gulped at his menacing words. ‘By the time I’m done you both will beg for death. I’ll kill him first so you can see what happens when you cross me.’

He picked her off the ground again, hauling her across the marbled floors towards a second door that led to a vast living room. He threw her on the floor by the sofa and called for Sebastian to bring him a gun. The lanky man disappeared. Y/N pushed herself up, the cut in her hand brushing against the course material of the carpet. 

‘Let’s make you more presentable, shall we?’ Rivera stalked towards her. Y/N pushed her legs against her chest, but the man pulled her by the ankle. Y/N yelped as the man threw his cane on the ground next to her and pulled the skirt of her dress. She flayed her arms around, trying to hit, scratch, do anything that might stop him. Rivera slapped her across the face again and grabbed the fitted bodice of the dress and started tearing it at the seams. Y/N screeched for help, but none came. She kicked and kicked, but couldn’t strike anything that would cause any pain to the man on top of her. 

‘Please, stop! Please!’ Y/N cried as the dress was torn to shreds and pooling around her body. She sat up and pushed her back against the sofa, hugging her knees close to her chest. She was left in the thin linen slip dress she wore beneath her costume. She felt exposed to the dark eyes of the man above her that continued to abuse her even if his hands were at his sides. 

‘You really think begging will help you’ Rivera taunted, kneeling down in front of her again. He harshly grabbed her chin between his fingers and pressed his thumb into the cut on her lip. Y/N yelped out at the sudden pain. ’I’ll make you beg alright.’ 

Rivera stood up from the floor and took of his jacket, flinging it on one of the nearby chairs. He uncuffed his shirt sleeves and rolled them up to his elbows.

‘By the time I’m done with you, you’ll wish you’d never gone against me.’ Rivera looked down at her with disdain. ‘Shame, I would’ve enjoyed fucking you, now… who would want a whore like you, hm?’

Y/N gulped and looked down at her bare feet. She needed to figure out something. Quick.

Right then Sebastian walked back in the room with a gun in his hand, giving it to Rivera. Rivera smirked at the weapon in his hand then at Y/N. He dismissed his the other man so it was only the two of them in the room again. Rivera knelt before her, lifted his arm and put the gun against her forehead. Y/N’s breath turned to ice in her lungs.

‘Where should I shoot after I’m done?’ He removed the gun from her forehead and lowered it to her throat, just above the necklace. ‘Here? Or…’ he put it against her chest ‘here? Either way, you and your precious lover, once he gets here, won’t leave this house alive.’

‘He’ll kill you.’ Y/N rasped and Rivera chuckled. ‘He’s a skilled agent. He won’t go into a dangerous situation without thinking.’

‘He will. For you. Do you think I missed the desperate looks you two were giving each other throughout your performance. It was disgusting.’

‘The only disgusting thing here is you, Diego.’ She jutted her chin towards him and his eyes turned impossibly dark. He lifted his arm and pointed the gun and the wall on his right, pulling the trigger. Y/N gasped and covered her ears at the loud bang. 

‘Oh, Y/N.’ Rivera tutted. ‘Look what you’ve done to my wall.’ He lowered the gun again and pressed the searing hot muzzle into her inner thigh, holding it there as Y/N screamed in pain. When he removed it, what was left was a burnt mark in a circular shape. 

Rivera ribbed his thumb around the mark and clicked his tongue. ‘What an ugly little thing? And this,’ he grabbed the necklace and pulled it roughly off Y/N, leaving red marks where the hard material grazed her skin. ‘Whores don’t deserve pretty necklaces.’

To make his point he grabbed at her throat and squeezed, pulling her face to his. Y/N choked out a tiny sob, fidgeting on the floor. 

Y/N felt some of his weight ease off her legs and particularly her knees. A good kick would be enough to distract the man. And she had to take the gun. Now, do it now, screeched a voice in her head.

Y/N kicked up her knee — hard — into Rivera’s groin, knocking out the wind from him as he doubled over in pain. She made haste to grab the gun out of his hand and roll him off of her. She pointed the gun at him to make sure he was still on the ground and then ran. She ran towards the foyer, the painful mark in her thigh seemed to burn harder the more she moved. Y/N limped into the foyer and through the front door, padding down the entrance stairs. 

‘ _Stop!_ ’ Someone yelled at her. A soldier with a gun of his own, pointed at her. She recognised it was a man from the Search Bloc. And there was another one behind him.

Y/N dropped Rivera’s gun on the ground and put her hands in the air, her breathing erratic. ‘ _He’s inside, there’s another man as well._ ’ She told them and just before they rushed past her, Y/N spotted Javier over the first soldier’s shoulder. 

Javier felt his heart stop for a second when he saw Y/N rush out of Rivera’s house. She was scarcely dressed in something that looked like a white shift, her feet bare and hair all messed up. The two soldiers they sent in first moved past her as she dropped down the gun she had in her hand. 

‘Y/N!’ He yelled out her name and rushed towards her. God, she was alive!

Y/N’s heart sang and her eyes filled with new tears as she staggered towards him. By the time he reached her, she collapsed in his arms, sobbing hard. 

‘Shh, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m here.’ Javier held her to his chest, brushing back her hair. She was alive.

Y/N clutched onto the lapels of his suit, sniffling as she tried to calm down. Other soldiers moved past them and into the house. 

‘Come on, let’s get you off the ground, cariño.’ Javier whispered in her ear, picking her up from the ground and carrying her towards Steve’s jeep. His friend opened the backseat door and Javier thanked him, letting Y/N sit against the car seat with her feet dangling out of the vehicle. He then took the time to lift her face and examine it for any injuries. Steve handed him a piece of cloth and Javier grabbed a discarded bottle of water from the floor of the car to wet the cloth. He gently ran it over Y/N’s cheeks, cleaning the smudged make-up. The welt on her cheek from a slap and the cut on her lip drew his attention. Javier lifted a hand, carful not to startle her, and cradled Y/N’s jaw. She closed her eyes at the sensation, leaning into his touch. Javier saw bruises already forming across her neck and felt his heart break. The sight that completely crushed him revealed itself as the hem of Y/N’s dress had bunched up and Javier saw a circular burnt mark on her inner thigh. He pressed his forehead against hers and felt his own eyes fill with tears.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he whimpered and Y/N looked up to see him tearing up. She took his face in her hands and made him look at her. He rambled on, ’I’m so sorry, mi amor. This is all my fault.’

‘It’s not. Javi, please’ she scooted further inside the car and pulled him with her. Javier sat at her side, holding her close, as close as he could. Y/N rubbed sooting circles over his cheeks as she gazed deeply into his eyes. ‘It’s not your fault, my darling. Please, don’t blame yourself.’

‘I almost lost you,’ Javier rasped, losing his eyes. His fingers tangled in Y/N’s hair. He wanted to feel her presence, wanted to make sure this was not a dream. 

‘I’m here.’ Y/N assured him. She held his hand to his heart while she did the same to his. The two of them relaxing at the steady rhythm, relishing in the fact that the other was safe.


	9. Chapter 9

_Passengers for flight AV385 Bogotá - Washington DC, please head to gate 11._

Y/N looked up at Javier with sadness in her eyes. The two had spent the last few days preparing for this moment and yet it felt so much different now that it was actually upon them. 

After Rivera’s capture, Y/N had been briefed about her situation and compensated for her injuries. Uncle Sam had been a little bit tight with his purse with this one. Y/N had a formal meeting with Messina and Ambassador Crosby during which they explained why she had to leave Colombia. Given her acquaintance with Diego Rivera, if Escobar or his people find out that she was the one that ratted him out to the government she could be in more serious danger than before. She had to resign from the Bogotá theatre and get out of the country as soon as possible. 

That also meant that Y/N would have to leave Javier as well. Something that seemed much more terrifying than being hunted by drug kingpins or other nefarious types.

Messina, being the good woman that she is, gave Javier a three day leave so he could use the little time he had with Y/N until her flight on Wednesday. So the two did all that they could in that period. They walked in the park like they’d done, they ate breakfast and dinners together and went to bed together. Javier was much to worried to touch Y/N in any other capacity than purely romantic. He didn’t want to push her given the enormous stress she’d went through and the pain that Rivera had and could’ve caused her.

But when Y/N climbed on top of him on Tuesday night, with nothing on but his shirt, asking him to make love to her like it was truly the last time, he did. He let her set the pace and rules. He laid back and watched in reverence as she sensually moved on top of him. He gently held her hands above her head and kissed her lips like they were made of something so fragile that his kiss would tare it apart. He inched her slowly, patiently towards he climax with whispered praised between hushed sounds of pleasure. 

Javier held her throughout the entire night, unable to sleep. Neither could Y/N. So they just laid there, lost in their thoughts and in each other. Javier memorised the feel of her skin under his fingers, every curve and mark. Unknown to him, Y/N was doing the same, however, she wanted to remember his scent. The strong smell of aftershave and cigarette smoke that screamed Javier; she wanted that burned into her consciousness.

‘Do you have everything?’ Javier asked as he held Y/N’s hands at the airport. He brushed his thumb over her knuckles, putting that sensation to the little list in his mind. ‘You have your board card? Passport.’

Y/N smiled, ‘Why do I feel like you want me to have forgotten something so I don’t leave?’

‘Because that’s the truth.’ Javier sighed and Y/N stood on her toes to bump her forehead against his. Javier chuckled and lowered his face to hers, capturing her lips in one last kiss before that last “goodbye”.

‘I’ll see you again,’ Y/N whispered into his lips. ‘No matter when, I’ll see you.’

‘I love you,’ Javier confessed with eyes closed shut. Y/N exhaled shakily her eyes filling with tears. She pulled his face to hers, pressing her forehead against his. It’s strange how a single action can become so significant. 

‘Please, don’t say it like you’ll never say it again,’ she whimpered.

‘I have to make sure you know it.’

‘Oh, but I do.’ Y/N smiled through the tears that washed her cheeks. ‘I know and I love you too, Javier. But don’t make it sound so final. Alright?’

‘Alright.’ 

She pulled back a little to stare into his eyes, sniffing and wiping her face with the cuff of her jacket. She smiled again, this time more confidently. ‘You’ll catch in Escobar in no time and when you do, come find me.’

‘Trust me, cariño. I’ll be on the first flight to Washington before the guy’s body hits the ground.’

The two laughed and the announcement for Y/N’s flight came again, this time more urgently. She pulled Javier for one last kiss, ‘Please, be safe. Take care of yourself, how you take care of me.’

Javier nodded. ’Same goes to you.’ Y/N’s body left his as she dragged her suitcase away, giving him one last glance and a smile before completely disappearing from Javier’s view.

* * *

**_5 months later_ **

With Escobar dead and gone, the DEA could sit back and take a breath. Javier couldn’t remember another time when the celebrations at the DEA office had been bigger. Messina and the Ambassador were pissed drunk, leaning against each other and crying. Steve had climbed on top of a desk and sprayed the joyful Search Bloc soldiers with champagne before pouring some down his own mouth. Javier couldn’t deny he was happy, but there was something more important gnawing at him.

When Steve had gotten off the table, Javier hugged him. The two men held each other as brothers do and then Javier told him he was leaving. Steve didn’t need to know more, he understood.

Javier was correct in his promise that he’d be on the first plane to Washington. He’d gotten the information of where Y/N lived from Messina who offered him a transferral to the DEA Headquarters. Stating that ‘You can teach the little shits how a job is done’. Javier told her he’d think about it, it all depended on how things were going to go with Y/N and his return after months of little to no contact. If she asked him to stay, her home in Alexandria was close to Headquarters. If she didn’t, then back to the mouth of the wolf he’d go. 

Once Javier landed at Dulles International, he was in a taxi and on his way to Y/N’s place. The weather was gloomy and dark rainclouds were hanging above the ground. The rain was light and resembled mist. 

Javier was jittery and his leg couldn’t stop bouncing off the car floor. The cabbie seemed to notice, ‘You can have a cigarette if that’ll make you nerves better.’ Javier nodded thankfully at the man and fished out his pack. Before he knew it, the car was pulling up in front of a white brick townhouse. Y/N’s house. Javier thanked the cabbie again, paying him and biding him a good day. 

And then he just stood in front of the homey-looking two story building. Javier wasn’t sure if just turning up, unannounced, would be good. Maybe he should go find a hotel and call form there, maybe ask Y/N if she wanted to meet up for coffee or dinner. Maybe…

‘Javier?’

He slowly turned around towards the owner of the voice he loved most in the world.

Y/N was carrying to large grocery bags that partially obscured her face but she still looked just as beautiful as she did back at that airport. She was dressed in a large raincoat and green wellies that reached her knees. The look on her face, however, was one of complete and utter shock. So much for breaking it gently to her.

‘Hey, cariño.’ Javier prepared for yelling or being told to fuck off, but Y/N just stared back at him. Then as if she stirred from her stupor, she dropped the bags the contents of which spilled on the ground and rushed towards him to hug him. She pressed her body flush against his, hands tightly wrapped around his shoulders.

She cried, ‘You absolute idiot!’

‘I know. I know, I’m sorry.’ He felt his own eyes flood with tears at the relief in her voice. She pulled back, holding his face and examining it. He had no injuries, he was all good. He’d made sure to trim his moustache a little bit, he hoped she liked it. 

Y/N bit her lip, trying to stifle the huge smile the brightened her face. ‘Oh, god!’ She came back to her senses, looking at her groceries on the ground behind her. ‘Can you help me with those?’

Y/N lead him inside her house, showing him where to put his shoes and jacket. She took off her wellies and carried the grocery bags off towards the kitchen, yelling over her shoulder for him to make himself at home.

Javier cautiously stepped into the living room and noted how cozy and how Y/N-like it seemed. There was a fireplace and an upright piano pushed against one of the walls. She had books everywhere — on shelves, on the floor, on the sofa and on the small coffee table in front of the fireplace. Javier’s attention was drawn to one particular book that had a stork with a bundle in his beak but he couldn’t make out the title from his vantage point.

‘You okay there, handsome?’ Y/N asked him and he turned to see her now able to fully admire her. Her face was fuller, brighter. There were no markings on her skin like there had been after Rivera’s doings. She was holding the folded raincoat to her chest.

‘Yeah, uh…’ Javier had prepared words, an explanation, on why he didn’t call or write. And Y/N looked at him expectantly. ‘I’m really sorry I kept you in the dark.’

‘Well, I was rightfully worried, you know.’ Y/N responded quietly. ‘After the first month, you just dropped all contact and I didn’t know if you were alive or dead. I called the embassy, hoping to get something, anything from them. They told me “they weren’t at liberties to share sensitive information with civilians”. Then I… I assumed the worst, which I shouldn’t have, but I was afraid that you just didn’t care. That you didn’t love me anymore.’

‘Cariño.’ Javier began by closing the distance between them. He’d spent the last five months away from her, he didn’t want to there to be an inch away between his body and hers. But he still had to be gentle, despite the passionate heat that Y/N had excited within him. ‘I wanted to call, but I was so afraid of putting you in danger. What happened during those five months… we were in literal hell. We didn’t know if tomorrow was a certainty. But I worked and pushed through, because I made you a promise. So… you can scream at me if you need to, if you’re angry with me. I will understand.’

‘I’m not angry, you idiot!’ Y/N chuckled, her eyes holding no contempt. ‘Honestly, I feel so happy right now, you- you can’t imagine!’ She placed a gentle hand on his cheek. 

Sudden thoughts seemed to fly behind her eyes as she recollected herself, clearing her throat. She glanced at the raincoat in her arms.

‘There’s something I think I should tell you now before anything else.’ She admitted nervously. ‘And i-if you want to leave, the door is open. I won’t force anything on you.’ 

‘Cariño, what’s wrong?’ Javier tilted his head, slightly worried by her words. That being until Y/N pulled the coat away from her chest to reveal a bump in her stomach. Javier’s mind seemed to pause for a moment as he drew closer to her, one tentative hand reaching out to hold her belly. ‘That’s… Is that… that’s mine?’ He asked in a small voice that didn’t fit a man of his nature or stature.

‘As far as I can tell, you’re the only who’s had access. I guess my contraceptives failed me in the end. The doctor said that this little bean fell in the 0.01%.’ Y/N placed her hand above Javier’s. ‘She’s quite the little surprise.’ 

‘She?’

‘Yes, a healthy little girl who just won’t stop shuffling inside.’ Y/N spoke to her belly like she was scolding the child inside. ‘They say she’ll only get worse once her feet are completely formed.’

Javier just stared at the woman before him with unbridled affection.

‘So what do you say? Do you want to chain yourself to the two of us?’

Javier huffed through a smile, cupping Y/N’s face and pressing his forehead against hers. ‘I’d even throw out the key, cariño.’

Y/N sighed happily, closing the final distance between their face and pressing her lips to Javier’s in a gentle kiss. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you.’

_In our line of work there are few things that could genuinely surprise you. You just learn to take the good and the shit as you go without making a lot of fuss. But you could mark me as absolutely dumbstruck when Connie said there was a call from Javier Peña — that sly dod — who needed us urgently to come to his wedding (!!!) And also wanted to know if we were available as godparents to his one-on-the-way. Fuck me, if I didn’t fall of my fucking chair right when I heard that! Connie was ecstatic, screeching for Javier to pass the phone to Y/N so she could congratulate her. It was odd to finally realise that the nightmare was over. It was unbelievable, sure. Peña settling down, but it was even better to know that my best friend had a found himself a good life, with a woman who loved and cared for him. And what more could I possibly wish for my brother…?_

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated! x


End file.
